Dental Surgery

Yesterday Latte went to the Children's Hospital to get her teeth fixed. I woke her up at about 4:30 am, she checked in to the hospital at 5:30 and didn't get to leave until almost noon. They put her under general anesthesia because it was a 2 1/2 hour surgery and she had to have 12 teeth drilled and filled or capped.

Looking at this photo taken just before she left that morning you wouldn't think she needed any dental work at all. She looks so strange now with her silver teeth on both sides of her mouth. It's a relief that they were able to get the problems fixed before the rot spread to her permanent teeth. Hopefully, all the bad teeth will fall out as she gets older and good healthy ones will replace them. I worry, though, depending on where she ends up living eventually whether she'll continue to get the dental care she needs to protect those adult teeth. As a side note, you may also notice from this photo that Latte got glasses. They are pink and are only temporary for the next two months. This prescription is designed to help correct her severe astigmatism. At the end of March she'll get her correct prescription for near sightedness.

Snakes!

Yuck, snakes! No, I don't mean our elected officials. I'm talking about the wooden snakes that the girls and I painted today for an art project. It was messy and fun. Gloria painted the biggest snake, Danya did the one on the right, and I had the littlest one on the left.

We also watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade today where they show how Indy got his fear of snakes. It was way icky. I can't wait to see the new movie coming out, although I can't really picture Shia LaBeouf (can't spell his name) as Harrison Ford's son.

My First Caucus

Daniel and I got Sarah to babysit tonight while we went to our first caucus ever. Each table you see in this photo represents a different precinct. Our group only ended up having nine people in it. We took a straw poll which just means a vote to see what we think that really carries no weight whatsoever. Of the seven people who arrived on time and were allowed to vote we had supporters for:
Romney - 3
Huckabee - 3
Ron Paul - 1

A very knowledgeable and outspoken man named Steve and I were both elected to be the delegates to our county and state caucuses where the actual election will take place. Daniel was chosen as the alternate. I also got to be the secretary at tonight's caucus, which just means that I got to fill out the paperwork and count the votes. It was all very interesting and I learned a lot.

Daniel and I were also chosen as our precinct's comittee members for the next two years, which means we will be given a list of everyone in our precinct the next time a caucus comes up. We plan to use that opportunity to call and send out notices to everyone so that they will know where and when to vote. One couple that came late tonight was very upset that they didn't get to vote. They didn't know that they had to be there by 7 pm or they would not get to vote. Daniel and I had a hard time finding out where to go tonight, too. We want to make sure next time that as many people as possible at least have the information they need to vote if they want to.

Super Bowl Crop

Last weekend I got to crop at The Stamp & Scrap Station for several hours on Saturday and Sunday for free. Wendy, the store owner, liked one of my layouts so much that she asked me to make her a duplicate for her own album! I created the "Heart Breaker" layout for her to use as an example to show people how to use some of the page kit pieces in the classes I'll be teaching.

Horn Harmony

Sunday the praise band performed the special music that Ron, the trombone player in this photo, arranged. It featured special parts for trombone and trumpet. They sounded good and both did a great job. I was supposed to play along with the saxophone part, but I managed to lose track of my music TWICE. Yes, I feel like a disorganized loser.

The first time was my fault. I don't have any clue how I lost my music. Ron kindly printed me another copy. The second time was half my fault. I left my music within Kevin's reach, and he grabbed it and threw it all over the house. Daniel cleaned up, but that particular sheet music was missing. So I didn't end up playing that song on Sunday. I'll get an opportunity to let the church hear how (badly I play) much I'm improving soon, though. Ron is going on vacation after next Sunday which means I'll have to play the trombone part by myself for two Sundays in a row. EEEEeeekkk!!

Four Daughters

I don't think I've really fully grasped the idea that I have four daughters yet. I do know that I've had to allow more time to get ready in the mornings because I've got to brush and style hair for myself and four little girls. I've also had to purchase more rubber bands since they seem to wander off at twice the usual rate now. One of the major changes to our household has been that Latte keeps getting in trouble for whispering at bedtime and nap time. She loves having a room mate, but it's definitely more work getting them to sleep.

A nice benefit to having another little girl Latte's age in our home is that they play together while I'm getting school work done with Danya and Gloria. On the other side of that coin, though, I have to be constantly alert for silence which signals me that they are getting into mischief again. The other day Latte took all her blankets and pillows, piled them up against the wall in Kevin's room, climbed onto his bed and used his curtains to swing on like Tarzan and fall into the mound of bedding. Of course the curtains shredded, the curtain rod bent, and the whole thing ripped out of the wall. These two girls have managed to find all new kinds of mischief and destruction previously unknown in our home. Through it all I just keep thinking, "Thank God they aren't teenagers!"

Swimming Against the Tide

"Swimming against the tide? Conservatism goes against the ease of the population, the vapidity of cosmic justice like fairness and inequality that sounds so good. Conservatism is constantly swimming against the tide, because it's hard. Conservatism is an intellectual application. One arrives at conservatism after having thought about things, after having been curious. You know, liberalism is simply what you feel. You feel good about things. It's the most gutless choice that you can make. Anybody can be a liberal. ...

Liberal is not something somebody has to be convinced of. It's not something you have to run around and persuade people about. You don't have to argue with them to change their minds. It's just the natural ease of dealing with ephemeral issues and it is not really solving them, but making you and everybody else think you care deeply about them. Conservatism is not easy. It takes work. It takes thought, conviction against easy answers from the left that do not work but they sound wonderful -- and it really grates on a lot of conservatives who have devoted their lives to try to bring the ideology to as many people as possible; remind them it's the structure and basis for the founding of our country. It just grates to have people on our side so easily defect and then turn around, and turn the guns on us as though we are the problem, which is what is happening with the McCain campaign. Senator McCain successfully targeted the weak, the mushy, the squishy, the Jell-Os, some of the left, the Drive-By Media. The maverick... Here's the dirty little secret. The "maverick" is swimming with the majority. The maverick is not a maverick. The maverick is with the majority, and he's swimming very easily with the tide. He's not a maverick." - Rush Limbaugh

Snow Surprise

The weather report Wednesday said that we might get a few flurries, a light dusting perhaps, of snow. Instead we got a few inches! Yesterday we let the kids go out and play in it. Gloria immediately got in trouble for hitting Bunny with a snowball that got directly in her mouth and ran down inside her coat. That's why Glory looks so grumpy in this photo. We told her no more snowballs and set her to shoveling snow. She actually had fun with that and did a good job.

While they were outside freezing their begonias off, I was inside working on scrapbook pages. Wendy, the scrapbook store lady, had asked me yesterday if I could bring in some example pages that show how to use my kits. She said she's had a lot of interest in my classes, but that people aren't sure how to actually use the pieces on their pages, probably because they are pretty big. Today I'm going in to the store to deliver the pages and also to attend the Saturday crop. I'm disappointed that it's been cut short, but it's still 8 hours of uninterrupted crop time.

Blue Team!

This is our crew of first and second graders at AWANA. They are a great group of kids. Right after the big group time where all the different teams are together for announcements and singing we head up to our room. There we listen to the kids say the verses they've memorized for the week. While the leaders are busy with individual kids the rest of them don't have much to do except work on Bible coloring pages.

That's why I've been trying to come up with more fun games to play during that time. We've played "Doggy, Doggy, where's your bone?" and, more recently, a form of "Pictionary" using the dry erase board. I'm thinking of bringing a book next week about missionaries to read to them. Last week we were short two leaders so I couldn't do anything with the other kids. That was okay, because they decided to play the games I had taught them on their own!

Temporary Cubbie

While Bunny is here she has been going to Latte's AWANA Cubbie class on Wednesday nights. She really likes it, but we're not sure whether we should shell out the money to sign her up. We just don't know what her future holds or how long she'll be with us.

She got to visit her grandparents this week. She's anxious to be back with them, but we haven't been given any information or any kind of time frame regarding how soon she could go home. We just keep telling her that her old home wasn't safe for kids so her grandparents are working on getting a better home ready with a nice new room for her. This photo is of the kids at Cubbies playing Duck Duck Goose. Latte's in the middle since she got tagged and Bunny is in the bottom right corner.

Mixed Feelings

Tonight I went by the scrapbook store to see if my class kits were on display yet. They were, so I took some pictures. Wendy, the store owner, is working on February's newsletter that will go out soon announcing all the classes and new items in the store.

Although it was fun to see the things I made up on the wall, it was also a little intimidating. I'm very nervous about having to present this as a (hopefully) interesting class to a room full of strangers. I'm afraid they'll think it's boring because it's just a lot of assembly work, or that they'll be overwhelmed by the amount of detail work and no one will be able to get it all completed during the two hours of class time. I'm thinking about asking if I can just sit in and watch another class being presented so that I can see what's expected.

I ran into Jane again while I was in the store. She plays saxophone in the praise band and sits in front of me. This is the second time I've run into her at that store so of course her first words were, "Are you always here?" It's been surprising me how many women at my church I keep finding out are in some way involved with scrapbooking or card making. I'm thinking about handing out the store's February calendar, letting people know I'm teaching a couple of classes there, and seeing if anyone is interested. But there's always the weird situation of not wanting to solicit people at church. I still remember trying to sell stuff at church for school fund raisers when I was a teen and how awkward that was. It would be nice, though, to have at least one person I know there for "moral support".

Worn Out

This past week or so has been pretty crazy for all of us. My jury duty lasted all the way through Friday which meant that Daniel had the kids all day from about 8 am to 6 pm every day. He ended up taking PTO days from work on Tuesday and Wednesday. There just wasn't an opportunity for him to sleep before he'd have to be at work.

I think the laws need to be changed in some way for jurors who are stay at home parents. Employed jurors are required to be compensated by their jobs for the days they miss. SAHM's, on the other hand, have to rely on a spouse or possibly pay someone to care for their kids during those days which results in lost wages for that person or having to use up vacation days.

Wednesday was particularly tiring since after a full day of court (for me) and a full day of running kids to appointments (for Daniel) my family picked me up from the courthouse and we went directly to AWANA at church. I ended up having to miss band practice. Daniel brought me my costume since it was "dress up like something God created during creation week" night. I have to admit we were all pretty funny looking. Danya was a cat (although I wished she'd worn the Eve costume she first came up with) and Gloria was a tree. Daniel had a giant fish hat on his head and I was wearing Gloria's upside down hula skirt on my head. They informed me that I was supposed to be sea weed. Our AWANA director was doing paper work with Daniel when she finally told him, "I just can't take you seriously with that fish on your head."

Thursday night Daniel and I got Shannon to watch the kids while we drove about an hour and a half South of here to buy a trombone that was listed on Craig's list. I'll post a picture of it soon. Friday we took the kids to back to back doctor's visits. My court case ended before noon, so Daniel picked me up and I went with them to the dentist and eye doctor visits. It turns out that we were right. Latte needs glasses. She should have those in a few more days. Bunny has a potential ear infection forming but her teeth are in great shape.

Sunday we had an extra rehearsal after church for an upcoming "band special" performance that I really feel like I was an after thought in. I was the only person with no part written, so Ron created a bass clef version of the saxophone part. Sunday evening we spent knocking out the grocery shopping and today I managed to get a good amount of school work done, but forgot about the girls' guitar lesson. Daniel took the kids to the park this afternoon and Kevin fell out of the swing and smacked face first into the ground. He's alright, though. We've also been battling Bunny's lice problem all week and did another round of shampoo tonight since I saw her scratching again. Hopefully tomorrow will be fairly stress free.

Jury Duty

I won't be taking pictures much or blogging for the next couple of days. I got selected for jury duty this morning so I'll be in court all day for the next two days. Today was long but interesting. Poor Daniel has had to take care of all 5 of the kids all by himself. Thursday he'll have to take care of the sweet little 2 1/2 month old baby boy we agreed to watch, too. I probably won't even get to see or hold the baby (waa!) Daniel will also have to deal with all the caseworker visits and appointments for the next two days. Hopefully all will go well and I won't have to go to court Friday since we have 3 doctor's visits scheduled back to back for that day. So keep Daniel in your thoughts and prayers for the next couple of days since he will have his hands very full!

Practice Class

Sara and Shannon agreed to be my test subjects as I did a trial run on teaching a class. It was good because I got not only two opinions on what I needed to do differently, but also a chance to see what sort of things I needed to explain more clearly and what extra items I'll need to bring when I teach. For instance, I needed some plain printer paper for everyone to lay their items on while the ink dried. I also learned that I need to double check the measurements I write down because I mismeasured an important piece that changed the look of their completed items. Overall it went well and I was able to get an idea of how much time it's going to take. The answer: Longer than I had planned.

Kid Sister

Gloria is really enjoying being a big sister to her two little sisters. All the younger kids love her. The other night when Kevin was throwing a fit in his room at 2 am and I was trying to wait and see if he'd fall back asleep he started crying, "Gorya!" like he was hoping she'd come rescue him from his bed.

I think they love her because she is fun and silly. She makes crazy faces with Bunny until they both crack up laughing. She tickles Kevin. She plays tag with Latte all over the house. Tonight I asked Gloria and Bunny to let me take their picture since they were both wearing matching shirts and Bunny instantly hugged Glory tight and grinned.

Bunny is really fitting in as if she's always been here. I hope they don't move her soon like they did with Curly Top and The King.
The only problems we've had so far have been somewhat minor. She doesn't eat or drink much, hates to be told to "try" to go potty, and today she bit Kevin because he wouldn't let her go down his slide. On the other hand, she always wakes up happy and she immediately started calling us "mama" and "daddy". None of the other kids call me "mama" so I'm not sure where that's coming from exactly. They all call me "mommy" except Latte who switches between that and my actual name. Latte and Bunny play together all day long and act like they've always known each other. I thought it would be harder than this to have five small kids. I'm really enjoying being a mom of five! Daniel is too, but he says that he hopes our county doesn't start thinking that we want to specialize in 3 year olds.

5 Little Monkeys

Saturday morning we went shopping for a few little things for Bunny like socks and pull ups. We also went to Sam's Club to print another batch of our "card" because we can get two wallet sized prints their for 17 cents. Our card is just a copy of the title bar of our family blog with our email and website listed on it. We get lots of opportunities to hand them out to people who want to know more about our homeschool or who want to arrange something with us via email.

When we went to Sam's all the kids wanted to ride in the oversized shopping cart together. Poor Bunny looked a little squished but she was smiling and laughing. I think she's enjoying having siblings close to her age for the first time. Her biological siblings are both teenagers and didn't live with her, just like Latte's big sister. When my 5 little monkeys aren't riding in carts, we try to keep them walking close to me. I'll say, "Come along my little ducklings" and they'll follow after me in a line while occasionally singing our duck song. Or sometimes we'll all "spaghetti up" which means that we hold hands in a wide row and wiggle our arms pretending to be one long spaghetti noodle. Every kid we've ever done that with has just loved it.

On the Air!

Tonight I was on the radio! It was so much fun! I was stopping to get a video from RedBox when I happened to turn on the Trevor Carey show on 710 am KNUS. He was playing a funny clip of Hillary Clinton trying to use a black accent to recite a poem and asked people to call in if they wanted to request a clip of any other Presidential candidate speaking. So on a whim I decided to call. I was so shocked when I got through immediately. The call screener put me right through and I was the very next person on the air!

I asked Mr. Carey if he'd play a clip of Fred Thompson laying out all the reasons why Mike Huckabee isn't a true conservative. This happened at the last GOP debate about a week ago. He asked me who I was supporting for President and I said, Fred Thompson because he's the only real conservative candidate who has been steady in his views throughout his political career. He, apparently, is a big Ron Paul supporter so we got into a whole debate about the Iraq war, overseas military bases, the founding fathers, and a slew of topics related to that. We argued all the way to his commercial break when he said we'd have to agree to disagree. After the break he talked about me a couple more times and played the clip I had requested. I was so excited that I really got to discuss important issues in such a public forum. It was awesome!

New Addition

Tonight we got called for a new foster placement. It was an emergency situation so we picked her up an hour after we first got called. She is the little cutie on the right standing next to Latte. I'm calling her Bunny for privacy reasons on this blog. I gave her the nickname Bunny because she is like the Energizer Bunny full of non stop energy squealing and shrieking her excitement as she runs from one end of our home to the other discovering each new toy, or as she likes to call them, "surprises."

Believe it or not, these two little girls are only nine days apart in age. Bunny will be four in March and Latte will turn four right after that. They seem to be excited about the idea of sharing a bunk bed tonight. We'll see how it goes. We don't know how long Bunny will get to stay with us, but it could possibly be a long time. We'll see how that goes, too.

Santa Must Love Me!

This is the 2nd of three kits that I'll be having my class make when I teach in February at The Scrap & Stamp Station. The idea is to teach people how to use their old sticker sheets inexpensively to make beautiful accents for their albums.

This kit "Santa must LOVE me!" uses only parts of 3 sheets of patterned paper, parts of 3 sheets of cardstock, a button, blank ink & pen, my Sizzix machine to make the "Santa" letters, and thumb punches for "The Loot." Anything that looks like ribbon is just paper. I've got until Friday to get all three kits ready to show the scrapbook store owner, Wendy. Two down, one to go!

Class Prep

For the class I'm planning to teach at my local scrapbook store I have to have three page kits, preferably all related to the current season or holiday. They already offer classes in card making, beginning scrapbooking, and a few other little projects. I want to offer a class that teaches how to use up your sticker stash. This is the first of the three themes I'll be teaching. I made all of this using:
1 sheet of stickers
2 sheets of patterned paper
2 sheets of plain cardstock
2 colors of ribbon
black pen, ink pad, & some blue staples
For the letters and circles I used my die cut machines, Sizzix, and Quickutz.