Westminster Splash Park

I took the kids to a new splash park that I've been meaning to check out all summer. We didn't stay long, but they got to climb on everything and wade in the water and play in the sprinklers. Katie really liked the log tunnel. We played peek-a-boo through the holes. There were so many kids there that it was a bit overwhelming. All I want to know is, where were these kind of parks when I was a kid?

He's Shaping Up Fine

Kevin is enjoying his first official year of homeschooling. He's a pre-K/Kindergartner this year, learning his ABC's, reading, handwriting, spelling color words, and doing simple math. This picture is of a shape man he drew. I try to let Kevin and Shane draw on the white boards when it seems like they're getting tired of writing with a pencil. They get more practice holding the thin markers correctly, but it seems like fun to them.

Next year I plan to let Kevin start in the Options program as a first grader along with Shane. I'm hoping they'll be able to support each other, although there is the possibility that they'll just rile each other up. We'll have to see. I've also been giving them opportunities to work separately some this year, so that Kevin doesn't become too dependent on having another kid working beside him. I have them take turns, with one playing educational computer games in the guest bedroom while the other does workbook pages in our homeschool room. It motivates them to complete their work quickly and lets them work somewhat independently as well.

Options: Year 2

This is our second year sending our four oldest kids to the Broomfield Options program for homeschooled kids. This year they attend on Thursdays. They all seemed excited to go back and see their friends, but it turns out that a lot of their friends are going on Fridays and not Thursdays. So, it's been a bit of an adjustment, trying to make new friends and get used to new teachers.

Fortunately Shane has the same Kindergarten teacher that he had last year. We decided to have him repeated Kindergarten since he has such a late birthday to begin with and because he just didn't seem ready for first grade yet. This year he is more mature and has a little more self control. He's also picking up a lot of the material better. He still struggles with letter recognition and their sounds, but he's learned his colors and can even recognize the words. He's got his basic shapes down and is doing simple math. Even his handwriting is improving.

Danya and Gloria are a little bit bored with their classes and say there aren't enough girls in them. But they like learning to play the piano and their history class is fun since it's in the form of a musical that they will perform at the end of the school year. Brianna is struggling in some of her classes, but she's trying hard. She's also taking piano. Bri and Glory are both taking P.E. and having fun keeping track of how many reps they can do lifting soup cans and of course sit ups and push ups. Danya is taking a writing class. She thinks there is too much writing required, but I think it's pushing her in a good way. She's the youngest in her class, so it's a challenge for her.

The challenge for me is allowing them time to work on their Options homework while still having enough time to complete all of the homeschool work I've scheduled. I had the girls sit down and figure out a schedule with me and that's really seemed to help. We'll see if it works out over time.

Married... with Children

When I was a kid I remember watching a t.v. show called "Married... with Children" with my mom. She loved that show, and thought it was so funny. The whole family treated each other horribly. The mom seemed to only communicate with her husband by whining and manipulation and the dad always joked about wishing he were dead instead of stuck in that family. Her other favorite family sitcom was "Roseann" which was only marginally better.

I remember wishing that my family could be more like the one on "Family Ties" where the family, although occasionally exasperated with each other, clearly loved one another. The dad was full of wisdom and the mom was self confident but loving. But then, I was looking at it all with a child's eyes and didn't catch most of the issues being discussed. Now here I am, 14 years into a marriage with Daniel, and I realize that no t.v. show character really captures how individuals truly are. They aren't static, either always wise or always foolish, always loving or always cruel.

We have days where Daniel and I feel like silly young teenagers in love, holding hands and snuggling, and other days where we have trouble speaking to each other without sarcasm or annoyance. So many of our disagreements happen because of pride, both of us thinking that our time is more valuable, our to-do list is more time sensitive, our grievances more important, our view of a situation is the only correct one. But in spite of frustrating days, underneath it all lies a bedrock of unshakable love and commitment to one another and to God that brings us back together with "I'm sorry's" and "I love you's" and openhearted discussions where we both try to see each others' viewpoint. That's my favorite thing about our marriage, the willingness to compromise and change.

This year for our 14th anniversary I surprised Daniel with a special day. He didn't find out until we were on the way that we were going hiking at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. It was beautiful and awe inspiring. Daniel loves outdoorsy stuff, and this was just tame enough for me and adventurous enough for him. Afterwords we played together at Chuck E. Cheese and used the tickets we won to get prizes to bring home to the kids.

We Picked Them!

Celebrating the one year anniversary of the day we adopted Brianna and Shane was so much fun. We took the kids strawberry picking. We left Katie and "Diego" at home with our babysitter and "Spaceman Spiff" was at school because it was a Friday. It was a beautiful day in August and the kids had a great time. Each of them got to pick an entire carton of strawberries. The berries were a bit picked over, but we found plenty of good ones. At home we made strawberry shortcake and strawberry smoothies. I'd love to go again sometime.

This past year I've seen both Bri and Shane grow and change so much. They've matured in many ways and, although they still have bad days now and then like all kids, they really feel like they've always been ours. We're trying hard to strengthen the bond between us because we know we missed out on those crucial early years. Sometimes it seems like we have to treat them more like we treat Katie, then the way we'd treat kids their age normally. They need those times of snuggling and rocking, singing and tickling, all the things that we do with a baby that shows them that they are ours and we are their source of affection, protection, and love.

I also forget sometimes that they learned most of their language skills after they arrived in our home. Today I was working on reading with Brianna when I heard her say "beebee" instead of "baby". She had learned how to say the word by hearing Katie say it. We thought it was cute, so we'd call her dolls her "beebees", too. So that's how Bri thought the word was pronounced. Daily we are reminded that we need to be proud of them and encourage them for doing well at the level they are at and not where we think they should be because of their age. There's a real difference in kids who come from neglect between "chronological age" and "developmental age". I have hope, though, that they will continue to improve and grow. Most importantly, I hope they grow closer to the Lord and deeper in their knowledge and understanding of Him.

YM Party

Our Sunday school class, called the "Young Marrieds" class, had a family party where we all brought our kids and played games. There were toilet seat races using plungers and seats with wheels on them. Even some of the adults raced! It was tough when they paired up two of my kids at a time because I didn't know who to cheer for.

There was also a cake walk at the end. We brought several desserts since we had 8 kids participating. All of our kids won something and were very happy.

Public School Again

This year we enrolled two of our foster sons in a school we had first tried out a couple of years ago. The school we'd been enrolling kids in got relocated to a new building farther away from us, so we returned to this one. It's a good school with supportive office staff. We were going to have two boys in one second grade class together, but two days before class started, one of the boys "Music Man" was moved to a pre-adoptive home.

"Spaceman Spiff" liked his class and his teacher, but we had some issues with him hiding his homework and pretending he didn't have any. The teacher and I had to stay in close contact. Then there was a substitute one day who ignored "Spiff's" requests to use the bathroom and made him wait until the designated break time. Of course, due to physical issues, he was a stinky mess by then, but she failed to notice and he was too embarrassed to tell her. He ended up finishing out the day and riding the bus home like that. I admit I wasn't exactly even tempered when I called to explain the situation to the school secretary. I'd taken the time before school began to explain all his problems and how to prevent them with his teachers and school support staff, but no one had bothered to leave a note for the sub.

I've never had a kid with as severe issues as Spaceman Spiff and I hope to avoid that level of special needs in the future. However, we did miss him when he was moved to a therapeutic home. He had a good heart and a sweet nature. We've also never had 3 boys, unrelated to each other, all with special needs at the same time. It was quite a challenge.

Adams County Fair 2010

"Spaceman Spiff" arrived at the same time we planned to go to the Adams County Fair, so he got to join us. He said it was his first time going to any kind of amusement park or fair. We could see in his face that it was really a struggle for him. He was having fun, but at the same time he was still very torn up about being placed in foster care. He didn't really know us yet, but he was quickly developing a friendship with the girls.

The thing that broke my heart the most was when he was on one of the rides and started making silly faces for the camera. I laughed when I finished taking the photo and I could see that he expected a mad reaction and was excited that he'd made me laugh. He kept telling Gloria, "Look! I made her laugh!" "Spiff" wanted my approval so badly. I think he has a very complicated relationship with his mom.

One bad moment of the night was when I realized that I'd accidentally dropped all the food coupons. We'd been given $50 worth of free food coupons from the county. Someone must have found the envelope because we retraced our steps and it was gone. I felt so bad. Daniel bought everyone a snow cone and we went home shortly after that. Overall it was a good night, though.

Spaceman Spiff

We've got a 7 yr old foster son (he'll be 8 next month) currently who is generally a very easy kid to have. Most boys we've had before have been very high energy. This one seems to keep his energy tightly leashed most of the time. However, when our former foster son "Music Man" was here for a while, "Spaceman Spiff" (as I call him online), let loose for the first time.

It's so much fun to see him come out of his shell and really relax into our family's crazy life. I call him Spaceman Spiff, or Spiff for short, because he has such a great imagination and talks a mile a minute when he's excited about something. If you're familiar with my favorite comic strip than you know where the name comes from.

Star Trekkin'!

Through Netflix I've been enjoying watching all the old episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation in order from the beginning. The kids have gotten interested in the show with me, so now they know a lot of the characters names and the basic ideas of the episodes.

I also recently found a play set of the bridge of the starship Enterprise from the show at a yard sale and got it for just a few bucks. We put it together and put all the stickers on. Then last week I looked on Craigslist and found a guy who was selling 80 of the action figures for $2 a piece! We rushed over there and bought about 30 of them. Now I'm wishing I'd grabbed about 10 more that I'd considered, but didn't get. The kids LOVE them! We've been playing together and it's so funny to hear them tossing out words like "warp drive" and "holodeck" and "plasma explosion". They even knew which episodes some of the aliens came from. I like these a lot better than some of the action figures I've seen from kids' shows these days. Daniel bought us the final season and we've been watching the episodes and playing along with the toys at the same time. Talk about a blast from my past!

The Arrival of Mr. No

Our new foster son, Mr. No, arrived on Thursday night. He's 3 1/2 years old and quite a handful. We already like him quite a bit. We were told that he's delayed, but I haven't really seen it. For his age he's actually very smart. They said he's speech delayed, but if so, then it must be fairly mild. He talks up a storm and likes to sing. He's more advanced in every way compared to Shane who is two and a half years older. I think Mr. No will be just fine.

This is his second time at least in foster care and he will be leaving in about two weeks, they tell us, to be placed in a fost/adopt home with his baby sister. I'm glad they'll get to be together.

Today after church (where his Sunday school teachers say he was pretty wild) we ran into Mr. No's grandparents and his older half sister at McDonald's. I was afraid it was going to be awkward, but they were very nice and repeatedly said how glad they were that Mr. No was in our care. I think Shane and Kevin are enjoying having another boy their size to play with, but I can see that sharing is something that Mr. No has never been taught. By his name it should be obvious what his favorite word is. We're teaching him limits and he's testing them all day long, but we can tell that he's basically a good kid.

Batman Birthday

Our son, Shane, turned 6 this week. It's hard to believe he's been part of our family for almost two years now. He's grown and changed so much in that time. He came to us as a little boy that seemed to have attachment issues, no understanding of personal boundaries, and was completely unable to speak more than about 5 words "Yah,No, Boo (Blue), Bye, and Ma". Now he is capable of controlling himself better, knows who his family is, enjoys learning to be a "gentleman" from his daddy, and is slowly improving in speech and other educational goals.

There's no way to say for sure what Shane's future holds or how much more he's capable of, but we are optimistic. In the meantime we are very glad to get the opportunity and the blessing of being his mommy and daddy. One thing that is clearly limitless for Shane is his capacity for loving others.

He chose to have a Batman party this year (which is a nice change from the Spiderman obsession) at Chuck E. Cheese. Shane's grandparents, his friends Tanner and Harley, and even his former foster sisters Molly and Selina came to the party. We also got to have his best friend Samuel come to spend the whole day with us. They didn't stop grinning or bouncing the entire time!

Comedy Club

We went to a Comedy Club in Westminster with Daniel's parents on a whim while they were in town. Our church has had several events out there and we've always wanted to try it out. It's a bit expensive, but it was very funny. The two oldest actors were very good at improv while the younger two were almost funnier in their inability to think as quickly. It's something I think would be very fun to try someday.

Brandy's Baby Shower

My friend, Brandy, recently had her 5th baby, a little girl. We, her friends, were all surprised to learn that she had never had a baby shower before. So Deanna thoughtfully took the opportunity to plan a baby shower, which she had also never done before. It was a success, but I must say I'll never understand games that involve melting chocolate bars into diapers and sniffing them to guess what kind it is. To me, that's just gross. If I ever get a chance to plan a baby shower I want it to be described as beautiful, adorable, fun, but not gross.

Anyway, we all chipped in to help them buy a chifforobe (yes, I checked, that's how it's spelled) for the baby to keep her clothes and things in. Daniel and I still have the one we bought for Danya when she was a baby. It was the first piece of nice furniture we ever bought. Today we use it as a t.v. cabinet. That chifforobe started my love of cherry wood furniture.

Baby Avigayl is beautiful and has a unique name and will be a sweet little blessing to her family, I'm sure.

Broken Baby

The baby is broken. Katie climbed up Kevin's ladder to the top bunk and fell off breaking both bones in her left forearm. I think we may win the bad parents of the year award.

We rushed her to the Children's hospital in the hopes that she'd get treated faster there then at our local hospital. They wouldn't even give her Ibuprofen at first. Then they couldn't do the procedure she needed and put a cast on until around 7'oclock at night. This big "procedure" they did to help her? The doctor used his hands to finish snapping her bones all the way through. Who decides they want to be a bone specialist so they can snap baby bones with their bare hands?! It's sickening. I had to leave the room.

Poor Katie was a trooper through the whole thing. I couldn't believe the hospital didn't even decide to splint her arm until they thought we were leaving. We were really just taking her to play in the waiting area. They wanted us to sit in the exam room for several hours watching t.v. instead. Katie wouldn't have any of that idea.

Even with her cast now she is so full of energy. She's learned to stand up in a new way since she can't use both arms as easily and she can even pick up and drink her bottle by holding the tip in her teeth and then repositioning her hand. Katie is one amazing little 17 month old.

Mr. Helpful...Sometimes

All the kids have jobs that they are expected to complete each day except for Kevin and Katie. Kevin is usually assigned as a "helper" but we don't really require him to do much. Most of the time he excitedly asks what his job is and then proceeds to ignore it.

Every once in a while, though, he manages to surprise us by jumping in to try something like washing the table. Now if he'd just learn to wait until Katie is finished eating first.

Lake Thunderbird in a Thunderstorm

Daniel's parents wanted to take the kids camping. We ended up having the Maxwells join us at lake Thunderbird just South of Oklahoma City. It rained all day on and off, so the kids only got to swim briefly, but the rain conveniently held off long enough for us all to eat.

The plan was for Daniel and I to take our youngest three kids to a hotel for the night and come back to enjoy the lake the next day. Unfortunately it rained all day the next day. Instead Daniel and I decided to head back to Colorado with the three we had and let the oldest three stay another ten days in Oklahoma with their grandparents. It was the longest we've ever been apart from any of our children. I'm not sure I'd do it again for quite so long a time.

The girls, Danya, Gloria, and Brianna, really enjoyed getting to have sleepovers at their cousins' house and participate in silly girly makeovers and such. They also got to watch Toy Story 3 with their grandparents. Meanwhile, Daniel and I enjoyed feeling like a small family again for the first time since 2006 before Kevin was born. It seemed downright easy! But we were both really glad to have the rest of our chicks back in the nest by the time they came home.

Grandma's Monkeys

Daniel's sister, Robin's daughter, Chloe, is about 7 months younger than Katie. Grandma Nancy was enjoying every moment of having them both together while we were in Oklahoma. They'll be her two youngest grandbabies until Daniel's brother Ben's youngest is born next year. That will be their 17th grandchild. Some day I hope that we'll beat whatever record they end up with!

Burger King Buddies

We spent some silly time indoors at a Burger King playland in Stillwater with our friends, Glenda and Christina, and their kids. It's sad that we only get to see each other a few times a year. I wish our kids could all grow up together. Our kids don't seem to notice the difference, though. They're always happy and excited to see one another and run around being goofy as if they were old friends.

Gloria had the idea of telling the kids that the ones who took the nicest picture together would get a prize. These were some of the best photos she took of them.

Seven Girls, Three Boys

What a change a few years can make. When we moved from Oklahoma to Colorado back in 2006 my good friend Betsy had two girls and was pregnant with her third. I only had two girls and had just delivered Kevin a few weeks prior. We'd spent 2005 and 2006 scheduling weekly playdates where our kids would get together and complete homeschooling projects.

Now Betsy has 4 kids, 3 girls and a boy. I currently have 6 kids, 4 girls and 2 boys. When we got together to let the kids play it was a very different experience. We both just shook our heads and reminisced about how easy it used to be. I love that our kids play together so well even though they only see each other once or twice a year.