Pictures? You want Pictures?????

I'm really disappointed in my photography this trip, but for what it's worth, we've enjoyed ourself and I've enjoyed not constantly taking pictures.

Yes. I know.

That's a first for me.

I'm sure I'll get over it and hate myself for that later.

In the meantime, here's a few....err....cancel that.....LOT of the pictures I DID take.....and perfect evidence of the many reasons behind why I was too busy to be constantly thinking about good photographic setups.........

Me and Munchkin.....when she was still freaked out by the waves and had to hold my hand....before she became the water rat that likes to "swim" on her own....well.....as long as mommy or daddy is in VERY close reach.

The EXTREMELY large clock on the wall....for the record, I like it a lot. Hence the reason I took two whole pictures of it........

Barefoot Landing....feeding the ducks/fish. That's Pinky there in the stroller. Munchkin gave her life on this excursion through Barefoot Landing. That was really fun....she loved it. Gets a bit eessspennnnsive.....but it's a really neat experience for her.....she got to pick out the body, push the pedal down to stuff it, put the heart inside it, give it a name and print a birth certificate, and pick out an outfit for it. She had a good time with it.

Then there was the SHARK that we walked into.....oooh, she LUVED that!!! I think we have gone into every single Pacific/Eagles/Waves/Wings.....whatever that is along this strip. And ya'll.....that is a LOT! But they're fun....I know it's a lot of the same stuff, and I know it's all made in China, but hey.....it's fun. I like to look.

Scrappin..........I am on a ROLL, people......hang on, let me go count.....TEN PAGES!!! Course, they're not finished....I just cropped, arranged, and glued....I have to go back and add a few fun accents plus the titles and journalling, but hey.....I was able to get more done by just doing the same thing for all the pages and not worrying about getting out accents and stamps and all that.....and when it comes down to it, at least now you can look at the pictures even if you don't know what was going on in them....LOL.

And then.....let's not forget today......

Yesterday we went out shopping and walking around cuz it was supposed to be sunny the rest of the week. Yesterday it was nice out. Today.....forecast changes on us and it got rainy. Who cares. We went out on the beach anyways.

Several hours (and a few raindrops...who cares....not like we weren't out there to get wet anyways.....long as there ain't no thunder an' lightnin, I'm cool) later........

.....we ended up with THIS. Please note the size of our construction project in comparison to our beach chair setup.....hehehe!

The pyramids are my handiwork.....

the sphinx is KC's......

With a little teamwork on all of it......hehehe....we had a good time.

We're just two big kids. Grownups? Who's grown up? Not me!!!!

In other news.....court happened while we were gone...... Good news.....although I still hesitate to get too excited yet......

1. BioM last visit with Munchkin is week after next.

2. Case plan is no longer reunification due to lack of effort on BioM's part.
3. BioM may go ahead and relinquish rights to us which would speed up potential adoption process in a huge way. However, she is asking to maintain visits with munchkin which we do not feel is a good idea, so we have refused that, but offered to keep her updated if she chooses to relinquish now. It's pretty much out of her hands, but she could fight it if she wanted and drag it all out even though she would not be likely to get anywhere.....so it looks like the munchkin may be with us for quite awhile now. Hopefully there will not be anyone else who comes in the picture and keeps her from staying with us permanently.

That's about it for now......

Later!

My Apologies to the Voters

ROFL!!!!!!

Discrimination against Diet Drinkers was not intentional in the polls on my sidebar.

I blame Blogger....I had a choice for "SOME DIET JUNK" as well as "OTHER" but both of those choices disappeared somewhere.....I had that problem with several of the polls. All I can say is, it's a new feature....perhaps they haven't gotten all the bugs out yet. And I did try to go back and add those options back in just now, but since there have been some votes, I can't change the options anymore.

LOL. Sorry ya'll....if you drink that diet junk or other, you can post a comment here.....hehehehehe......thanks for voting anyway. *GRIN*

Polls and other new stuff

So is anyone having trouble getting to this blog now that I've added the surveys??? In case you missed them, they're over in the sidebar over there......just for fun.....I was playing with the new poll feature last night and got a little poll happy. Have had a complaint this morning that they're having trouble accessing the ol blog now, and that is the only new thing, so consider this an unoffical poll.....are you here? Have you had any problems? If the answers are Yes and No respectively, then for pete's sake, go answer the stinkin polls over there.....hahaha.

Later!

PS Vacation is still fun.....have been a terrible picture taker though.....still have a few more days to remedy that, so keep your fingers crossed....or if you're actually relieved about that, then don't cross your fingers.....ahhaha

I'm tired.
LOL
Vacation is hard work!

Hummmmm....interesting.

You Are An ESFJ

The Caregiver You are sympathetic and caring, putting friends and family first.A creature of habit, you prefer routines and have trouble with change.You love being in groups - whether you're helping people or working on a project.You are good at listening, laughing, and bringing out the best in people. In love, you value harmony and mutual understanding.You will apologize or give someone the benefit of the doubt, if it means getting over a fight sooner. At work, you are good at building relationships and connecting with people.You would make a great nurse, social worker, or teacher. How you see yourself: Organized, dependable, co-operative When other people don't get you, they see you as: Opinionated, critical, and know-it-all

What's" Your Personality Type?

The Munchkin

Oh my. I don't even know where to begin on this one.

I guess for starters, vacation has been good....we're having a good time and for the most part, having no problems.

Munchkin is loving the beach and the water and sand.....heavens, she is such a water rat!!! She is NEVER ready to get out. And is very vocal about it.

"ME NOT READY TO GO!!!!!"

For the most part, she's been very well behaved. However, I feel like we're constantly having to threaten her with the beach in order to maintain good behavior. I'm not sure we're doing the right thing with that, but it's about all we have to work with since we're not at home. Anyways, she has had a couple of really good days, but there are a few things that have just came up during this trip and I'm not sure what has triggered them to suddenly become a problem.

First it started with her calling me Mommy Faith. And she did it in a tone and with the body language that she uses when she's trying to push my buttons. Which of course I knew what she was doing, but but she's never used that to try to push my buttons before and I've never heard her call me that before either. And don't get me wrong, if a foster child feels more comfortable calling me Mommy Faith or whatever, i'm cool with that. Actually, as long as it's not a bad name, they can call me whatever they feel comfortable with.....however, it DOES bother me when she starts to call me this after months and months of calling me "mommy." At this point, I'm just mommy, don't start....particularly with that kind of tone and attitude. But, I don't let it show that it bothers me, I just calmly tell her that I'm her mommy and if she is going to have an attitude, she can go sit in time out. Anyways, after a few times over that, she hasn't said that much since.

But also about the same time as the previous started, she started giving us the finger. Now, I am aware that she's three. And I'm sure she has no idea what that means, but I do know that she knows it's something you do when you're mad at someone b/c she's proved that in the way she uses it. I also know that she's always had a tendency to use her middle finger when pointing but this is totally different from that. We've let it slide b/c we knew the pointing was innocent, but now we're correcting it.

"No, you don't use that finger. Use your first finger."

And we've also not made a huge deal about it, but it is very annoying to get the finger from a three year old. And ya'll, I am not kidding. I'm talking, she was sitting in the cart and started to get mad at us over something completely minor and then she throws up her middle finger and holds it up at us with a look of complete defiance. I mean, she didn't say a word, but that look could not have said "what are you going to do about it" any louder than if she'd SCREAMED it.

It is absolutely insane. And there's no explanation. We don't watch any movies where she'd have picked up anything like that, none of our friends are into obscene gestures such as that, and I don't have a clue other than her biological childbearing unit, where she'd get anything such as that. I know that the "mommy faith" stuff came from her, but why she suddenly started saying it to me with an attitude is beyond me.....

And all that was confusing to deal with, but then today.......

Well, that's over on the private blog. It was that bad.

I just don't get where this monster, who was our sweet little munchkin, has came from.....sheesh. I want my sweetheart back. And like I said, she's been super sweet for a LOT of the time on this trip, but these weird moments are SO not fun to deal with. *shaking head*

Anyways. We've hit two thrift stores while down here.....both were incredibly disappointing. YUCK. We've decided not to go to anymore of those......LOL. Other shopping has been productive and entertaining though.....*grin*

And then there's the beach. Ohhhh....love me some beach. Don't love the sunburn....got a lil bit of that today, but other than that......sweet.

Alrighty then....I'm ready to go to sleepytown.....

By the way, huge congratulations to Denise (aka NYNative) who had her baby.....WOOHOOO!!!

Later!

Meaningless Monday Messages

Dear Weather,
Thanks for mildly cooperating.
Love,
the people building sandcastles on the beach


Dear other people on the beach,
Quit staring. Yes, I'm in the water with my clothes on. Stare at the lady wearing a thong down there if you want to stare.....after all, a forty something, out of shape, splotchy skinned, thong wearer is much more strange than someone wearing a tshirt and skirt in the waves. Get over it. Thankfully though, you don't bother me anymore since I decided to ignore you.
Just thought I'd let you know,
The chick in the water wearing more than a thong


Dear Vacation Rental people.....
Don't advertise high speed and not give the rentees a network password. Furthermore, don't make it necessary to harrass you for three days before finally finding someone who will work with you to correct the situation. And then leave the poor rentees with the huge issue of getting tech support to reset or whatever it takes to get the stupid box in the other room to work again...... The free meal certificate is nice, but you're causing a great deal of inconvenience for the ONE main reason we chose your condo. ARGH.
Sincerely,
The Rentees
PS Also helps if your tech support people don't give a lecture about the legalities of you using an unsecured network nearby since you have no other way to access the internet.


Dear work,
I'm sorry...I haven't been in the mood. Forgive me. I'll get to you soon.
Love,
Happy to be on vacation


Dear blog readers,
I'm sorry.....internet issues....too little time for computer while having fun on vacation....the water's too inviting.......etc etc.....I'll get back soon to you, too.....
Love,
alwaysfaith....................................

Uhhh...this vacation stuff?

It's kinda hard work. It's been a nonstop day. I really wanted the car packed tonight but things are definitely not that far along at this point....they're getting there....but not quite.....*sigh*

Munchkin is so excited....ROFL....she didn't want to go to bed and she's driving me berserk with her excitement.....she couldn't stop jabbering about taking this toy and can we take that toy and on and on.....and I finally got her stuff packed up and out of her room so she could go to bed.....and I put her to bed....and I quietly go about my business throughout the rest of the house as usual and about an hour or so after she was asleep, I hear her padding into the living room and she comes in with this big grin on her face and runs up to me and KC, all excited.....she SO thought it was morning and it was time to get up. She was quite disappointed when I put her back to bed. ROFL. I was proud of her though, she didn't really kick a major fit when I tucked her back in.....whined a bit but that was it. There was a time when that scene would have ended with a major screaming tantrum about having to go back to bed. *smiles* I'm glad this is not that time anymore. I'd like to not ever see that time return. Hahaha.

Anywhooooo.....I am going to miss our cats. They hate it when we go on vacation. Hopefully they won't miss us too bad since our friends are going to be house/petsitting while we're gone.

I'm tired. I think I should probably go to bed now so that I can get up early in the morning and finish the packing stuff so we can get on the road early. I'm sooooo hyped about this!!!! YAYYYY. Vacation!!! But sheesh....sometimes I think I work harder on vacation than I do the rest of the time. *sigh*

I'm taking my scrapbook bag, some reading, my computer.....rest? who needs rest? I'm gonna be BUSY! haha. And that's when I'm not like in the ocean or taking care of the munchkin. I'm gonna be exHAUSTED when I get back, I'm sure! haha.

Oh well. Such is life.
Later!

Da Prodigal Bru'da

WAELLLL...... For the first time since the beginning of this year, I have seen the kid I grew up with for the first 18 years of my life. He actually came to see us......he was conveniently working in town today and needed a place to stay so he wouldn't have to drive home......LOL. But it's okay.....at least he came by to see us....

Munchkin finally warmed up to him after about 15 minutes and then she was permanently attached to his side just jabbering away at him. LOL. One thing is for sure, she shore does like him. Maybe even more than "Map" .....and that's a LOT! Pooooooor KC.....he felt sooooo replaced. I didn't take any pictures.....I was too busy playing with the new video camera...haha. Oops. I'm gonna have to be careful about that or I'm liable to end up with no pictures to scrapbook....hahaha.

Anywhooooooo..............................

I really don't have anything else to talk about. Got consulted more today. Did not get all my work done. Got home and hung out with the brother and KC and munchkin and didn't get any of my to-do list for getting stuff ready for vacation done. Oh, as a side note here, I did attempt this very painful procedure on the forests of my legs.....who invented wax, by the way?

Wait.....this deserves it's own paragraph. GARUMPH! And that stupid label that says it sticks to the hair NOT the skin was plain flat out lyin! I think actually it was just the opposite. Or maybe the trunks in my forest are just deeply rooted. I'd say this procedure worked on about 50% of the follicles.....then I plucked 25% and the other 25%, I just gave up and shaved. Oh, and I'm only talking about the areas at the knee and below.....I'm not brave enough to try yanking out multiple hairs and skin at the same time on any other parts of my body. And given the somewhat disappointing results, I'm not really sure it would be worth it. Maybe I just need wax school. Humph. And why I chose to do this tonight is beyond me. I guess cuz we were all hanging out in the living room/kitchen area of the house and the brother and KC were on the computers and chatting about all that stuff and me and munchkin were bored. So after we made cookies, she got front row seats to the excitement of sticking paper strips to mommy's legs and YANKING them off and watching mommy howl. Fun, huh? I probably should have stuck to the plan and worked on my packing. LOL.

It's been approximately 2 hours.....and my legs are still tingling. Interesting sensation, that. Not that anyone else needs to know that, but for future reference to myself.....might want to keep that information in mind. LOL. Too bad I didn't write this kind of stuff down several years ago when I first tried it.....I might have saved myself the trouble......I don't remember it being quite that painful.....and I really thought it worked better the last time.....hm.

On other, less personal things, we sat in the dark and watched the lightning outside tonight.....munchkin got to stay up a little late with us since the thunder was so loud and crashing b/c the storm was so close, that I knew she would not go to sleep anyways.....so we all looked out the windows at the lightning flashing. It was crazy....it was almost one constant thunder and flickering light.....kinda cool. It poured down rain, too....and the brother left his car windows cracked....and it was storming too much to go take care of it.....so he'll have a wet ride in the morning....Teehehehe.

Ugh. I'm really sleepy. And regretting that I didn't get a little more done for my to-do list. Ah....I think I'm going to crash now and hope that I'll manage to be awake a little early in the morning.....*sigh*

Later.

Nuttin' Quite Like it

The lovely Perfectly Manic Stupidity stuff......on top of an irritating nagging headache.....on top of endless meetings at work b/c we're being consulted (you know, by one of those consultant people who comes in and consults you all to pieces....although, really, she's pretty good at it...I feel very consulted....in a good way....as opposed to feeling insulted, I guess it's not too bad), and then of course, you have the munchkin -- who decided tonight would be a lovely night to have unreasonable tantrums in which it was necessary to hold her still in time out to keep her from hurting herself (or you know....me....LOL) -- for at least an hour all together.....on top of the fact that I haven't felt so hot for the last couple of days (between the cold and Pukey Mean Stuff, otherwise known as "being a girl") and decided to stay home from church since I have so much work to do PLUS not feeling good and ended up not getting that much done OR resting since I was too busy trying not to get beat up by an impressively strong three year old and then of course.......

you know, that sentence was getting a bit long.

Perhaps you'd like me to tell you about my dream last night now? In which I was staying in our old house (the first house that KC and I bought together) with the two older and somewhat "eccentric" folks who bought it from us and the munchkin was with me and there was some kind of issues that they were having with us having a stalker and leaving the doors unlocked and strange dogs across the driveway......and this has lots of potential to become a sentence as long as the first one......

Perhap sentence is too much....run-on unfinished thoughts would probably be a more appropriate description. LOL.

Oh and then there was the dream right before I woke up this morning....in which I had some strange foster kids and was in this current house and they had found a snake which I killed and then they drained the poison out of it and gave it to me......don't ask me how, but I realized it and got some kind of help, but then it was like I WAS one of the foster kids and we were in this house that was like one of those freaky movies where suddenly some invisible force just starts sucking all the objects out of the house room by room.....and there is no logical pattern to it, just happens at random so we were all walking around hanging on to each other and the doors so that if the current started flowing we would be anchored to something......

Um. Strange.

And also strange is the fact that KC was not in either one of them...it was like I was all by my lonesome....which was weird....

My head hurts.

That was last night.....I'm kind of afraid to go to sleep after dreams like that. And I've had quite a few crazy unreasonable dreams like that lately. I just haven't remembered any while blogging.....LOL. And I'm not sure what made me think of these tonight....since I haven't remembered/thought about them all day.

Um.
Anyways.

We got our new video camera in the mail today. Way cool. I really wanted to spend all evening figuring it out, but I did what I was supposed to do and finished the church newsletter, worked on a little bit of laundry, longingly gazed at the recliner each time I walked by.....and I did test the camera out for about 10 minutes. It's pretty neat. And munchkin is a huge ham. LOL. Sometime when I figure out a way to post recorded clips that I can password protect, I'll upload some...sometime.....LOL.

Um.

My head hurts.

I'm tired.

Goodnight.

PS is it vacation yet?????

Booboo Off?

"Deaw Gaw, tank ooo tiny...lalalala...hep me......lalalala......and hep my booboo off----mommy? Gaw take my booboo off???"

"Yes, sweetie, God can take your booboo's off."

"Gaw hep my booboo's off-----mommy??? Gaw hurt me take my booboo's off?"

"No, baby, God won't hurt you when he takes the booboo's off. He loves you and he wants to take care of you, not hurt you."

"He be easy, mommy????"

"Yes, sweetie, God will be easy when he takes your booboo's off."

*huge sigh of relief* "kay! Gaw hep my booboo's off, easy. In Dehus ame, AMEN. Mommy! He take my booboo's off. Aww bewew now. He easy! Mommy, me pray for booboos!!!!"

Thanks!

Just wanted to say "thank you" for all of the support, empathy, and prayers that I have felt in the last few 'down' days. It really does mean a lot!

My friend, K, testified tonight at church about a verse that God gave her when she was battling worry over their situations.....and as a sidenote here, I don't think any of the things we're going through right now could even compare to the worry that I can only imagine she feels......but her testimony really encouraged me and especially the verse: Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. -Isaiah 26:3. And she said it like this, when our minds are on the circumstances, when our minds are on the situations we see, our mind isn't "stayed on Him" and that is why we don't have perfect peace when we look at the circumstances. In order to have "PERFECT" peace, we have to keep our minds on Christ and trust HIM to take care of the circumstances and the situations.

Thinking about that as applied to this situation that we're in with the foster care, I have realized that I was fine with the whole thing until I started looking at the situation and worrying about what we'd do if Munchkin has to leave or what will happen with the bouncer when he found out he was moving....and on it goes.....my point is, my perfect peace with the situation was gone when I started to worry, but when I put it back in God's hands, I'm okay with it again.

Now I'm not saying that I will not be devastated if Munchkin ever has to leave us. Really, she is MY baby girl (or as she's been saying lately, ME NOT BABY, me BIG GIRL!!!!) and no matter who gave birth to her, I'm so claiming her.....but it's in God's hands. The one who decides when to give life, and when to take it.....and who really has a guarantee that their kids will ever be with them past 2 or 3 or 10 or 25?? Nobody! It's totally in God's hands. And if, God forbid, my precious baby girl ever leaves me, she's still going to be in God's hands.

And there.....is "perfect peace."

"Thanks, Lord."


On a lighter note, the munchkin is talking up a storm these days. She never fails to amuse me (or otherwise move me). Even when she's not being very good.

Random things heard around the house these days......

(While sitting in time out for disobeying mom) "Mommmmyyyy not my penddddd!!!!" (for those who don't speak munchkin-ese, that last word was her word for "friend")

"Me say NO!" (accompanied by the sign language for the word "no")

"Me say uh huh!" (accompanied by the sign language for the word "yes")

"Top been gi gi gult, pawpaw!" (that was "stop being difficult, pawpaw")

"Me go to beech now? Me wait? One week? YAYYYYYYY!"

"Me hove you, Map" (this teen boy at church that she has a baby girl crush on and is constantly sitting in church poking me and saying, "where map at? gone?" "MAPPP!!!" "Look mommy! Mapppp!" "Map MY boy, mommy!" and.....welll.....you get the picture. It's quite amusing. Poor Map though, he turns red. Bless it. LOL.

"(Bouncer's Real Name Here), you come BACKKKKK!!!!!!!" (When he came into church tonight and she saw him.......and she squeeeeeeezed his neck!.....AWW!)

(After church tonight when bouncer didn't get in the car with us to go home) "Mommy, where bouncer?" "With Nikni and Big Daddy." "Why??" "Cuz they needed a little boy." "Nottttt meee!?" "No, you're going to stay with mommy and daddy." "Why???" Cuz we need a little munchkin! Is that okay??" "Uh HUH! Me hove you, mommy!" "Me love you, too, sweetie." "Daddy, too?" "Uh huh, daddy, too!"

(On the way home from church when we passed a smelly ol chicken farm) "TOP IT KIKENS! Mommy, KIKEN poopied! Me say TOP it kikens! Kikens TINK!!!!! "Oh good, I'm glad you told them to stop....they really are stinky!!!" (and then the rest of the way home we had to listen to her repeating over and over. "Kikens poopied. Kikens tink. Me say top it. Mommy, me say top it kikens, kikens poopied mommy? Poopied? Kikens tinky mommy? mommy? kikens gone? Mommmy? Mommmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyy..........................")


So anyways, today I really didn't do much besides laundry and tidying up the house a bit. I did do the last paper page that I needed to do for bouncer's album that I sent with him, and now all I have is the digital stuff to send for his album for the time that he was with us. But I really wanted to get some work done for like....my paying 40+ hour a week job and that didn't happen today. Maybe tomorrow. I also wanted to work on munchkin's scrapbook. That didn't happen either. I also wanted to.....well, you get the picture.

Instead I drew on the sidewalk with munchkin, let her help me with all the chores, (she's actually pretty handy at rinsing out dishes and handing them to me to load in the dishwasher), sat in her room and read a book while she played, fixed her lunch, let her watch me clean and fill the wading pool, sat outside and read a book while she played in the wading pool.....played with her a little bit in the wading pool, walked around aimlessly through the house thinking about how quiet it was and how I should work on my computer, went to church.......well, anyways, I stayed pretty busy......but didn't do what I really had planned. Oh well. It was fun, and the munchkin had a pretty good day.

I have notice that she whines and all that a LOT less now that she's an only child. LOL. She also gets along pretty well with herself.....hahaha. Didn't hear any of that "MOMMY, MUNCHKIN TOUCHED ME" stuff either.....hhahaha. Since Munchkin really can't NOT touch herself....ahhaha.....*Sigh* I'm a little tired.

I'm going away now.

Later!

I Wasn't Even Close To Crying

until it came right down to the last moment when they were getting ready to leave after our fun evening at the play place in the big town half an hour from home.......

and we hugged him goodbye.....and even that wasn't sooo bad.......


.....but then

Munchkin

hugged him bye and they squeezed for like a full minute and then

she said (ever so sweetly and sadly)

"me hove you (his name here -- spoken in kid-ese)!"

and kissed his cheek and then she came and grabbed my legs and was holding me for dear life.

And I really don't know whether or not she realizes that he's gone for good. Maybe she does.

Awww. Mercy. And all of us adults just kind of looked at each other.

And the house is SOO incredibly quiet. Even with the munchkin whining around and talking and everything like usual, it felt like we'd gotten back home from a funeral or something and it was a dreadfully somber mood. After they left, I walked through the house and listened. It's just not the same. I am so happy for him and I was certainly ready for a breather....and for him to get to go with his "forever family," but internets? I'm having trouble seeing the screen right about now.

It will all be okay. I am sure I will get over this feeling very quickly. And then I'll get back to enjoying the peace and quiet and lack of bickering around the house. And I'm truly thankful that our situation of a foster child moving on has been one of a pleasant, amiable kind and that I can be confident that he is in the best place for him. Because I can only imagine how hard it will be when/if the time ever comes that one of these goodbyes is NOT said with such confidence. Be it munchkin or anybody else who we may have the honor of having in our home for an extended period of time, I am sure that it will be ten times more difficult. Or more.

But for tonight?

I'm pretty close to crying.

I'm going to stop blogging about it though, b/c I don't feel like crying until I start writing it down.....then all the feelings come out. It's much more comfortable if I keep all those feelings bottled up inside.

I'm going to go put a cork in that bottle now.

Or maybe I'll let that cork pop out and the contents of my bottle explode on my hubby's shoulders.

They're so good for that sort of thing.

Later.

Better Than Expected.....

I don't think we could have asked for him to take the news that he's leaving us any better than that. He was a little disappointed that he was having to leave at first, but after the SW told him that Nik-ni and Big Daddy would be his "forever family" and not only that, but they were good friends with us, so he'd still get to see us alot and it wouldn't be like he'd never see us or Munchkin again, he was super excited and even wanted to know if he could go tonight. I'm not sure if he was just acting like he thought we all wanted him to act and hiding his true feelings or not, b/c later KC asked him how he was feeling about it and he said he was sad that he was leaving and he seemed a little down, so we talked about it over supper.

Supper was his favorite (his choice for tonight since this is is last night) S'getti and meatballs and garlic toast. While we were eating, we talked to him about the move tomorrow night. He wanted to know why we didn't adopt him if he was available for adoption, and we said it wasn't because we didn't want him, it was because a lot of people wanted him and Nik-ni and Big Daddy were first in line. We also reassured him that he was not leaving our house b/c he had done anything wrong or because he was too wild or that we couldn't handle his behaviour, he was leaving b/c his new home with Nik-ni and Big Daddy was going to be a really good move for him, that they love him very much already and want him to be their forever son, and he will get to be the only child there (at least for awhile until they all decide to add more to their family) and they can help him with his school and all that. He seemed very relieved after that conversation and went back to being excited about it.

Then after that, KC laid on the floor beside him and watched a movie with him and we gave him a silkie spiderman blanket that "Mawmaw" sewed for him to remember all of us by. Then, while they were doing that, I fixed them some cookies and milk (a special treat around our house cuz I have to be in the right mood to want to spend my evening baking cookies) and worked on packing up his things.

Dude. He's got a lot of stuff. I knew he had more stuff going out than he did coming in, but I really didn't realize how MUCH more stuff. I filled two duffel bags, he's got a gargantuan tote of toys, a gi-normous birthday gift bag full of stuffed animals and toys that wouldn't fit in the huge tote, a backpack and a lunchbag full of odds and ends, a pile of toys and things that wouldn't fit in any of the bags, a gift bag full of shoes, a gift bag full of books, a sack with a sleeping bag in it, a sack of winter clothes that he came with that I didn't even mess with, just tossed it up in the closet.

As I was finishing the last few things of his packing, he came in the room with KC to start getting ready for bed and was like, hey what are you doing!?! I was like, getting your stuff together so you'll be ready to go tomorrow. And he got all down again. He said he didn't like change and he was so pitiful. I was like, I know, buddy, I don't like change either and sometimes even good changes are hard to adjust to, but it will be okay.

Man alive. I wasn't feeling like, all emotional or anything while I was packing his stuff, even though it did feel odd, but now that it's all packed and I've sat down to think about it, I'm having a bit of a hard time. He's only been here for two months and amazingly enough, I am actually going to miss the little bugger. He really is a good kid.

And this is the hardest part, not that he's leaving b/c I am 100% comfortable with where he is going and know that I'll get to see him lots and it's going to be great for him.....the hardest part is that packing him up makes me think about what I'm going to do if I have to pack up the munchkin b/c I won't know where she's going and I won't get to see her anymore and she's my baby girl. The thoughts of that just make me want to sit down and hold my head and just bawl my eyes out.

Ugh. I'm getting a lump in my throat now.

*swallowing hard*

So the good.....or not.....news on her situation is that the biological child-bearing unit did not show up for visit on Monday, but they didn't go get munchkin b/c BCU didn't call, so at least the munchkin wasn't disturbed. Oh, and they still haven't heard anything from her to know where she was at......and why she missed......and then too, apparently, she didn't show up for her "illegal substance abuse" class on Tuesday either......

Interesting.

Oh yeah, before I forget......bouncer wanted to pray for our food tonight at supper......
I don't remember his prayer word for word, but it included this:
"thank you God for my new mom and my new dad and my forever family and thank you for my dad and mom----i mean KC and Faith....and my foster family......"

Um. I think I'm actually going to cry over this.

I'm goin now.
Later.
*trying to swallow past the lump in my throat*

Breathless

No really. I mean like I'm having problems getting all the necessary air to breathe. It's been bothering me since this afternoon. Weird. I almost didn't go to church tonight b/c it was bothering me but I'm glad I did now. I needed to hear tonight's message.....I think I'll be chewing on that for quite awhile. It was good.

Other stuff going on.....I've been trying to get the bouncer's lifebook (for the part of his life that he's been here) caught up. It's a work in progress, but I'm getting there. I'm going to take half a day tomorrow b/c I have to pick up some groceries and I need to tidy up the house a bit so the social worker who is supposed to visit tomorrow evening won't think we're slobs. Maybe I'll get everything tidied up early and get to finish the pages I've been working on.

I'm kinda worried about tomorrow night. The social worker is going to talk to the bouncer about his move to the new foster and hopefully adoptive home and I'm just so afraid that he won't take it well. He has been fine with the family that is going to be keeping him after Friday but whenever we try to mention (in a round-about way) anything about him ever leaving us, he gets very upset and tells us he doesn't want to go. I am almost positive that this has been the first really "stable" and "steady" environment he's had, and I have a feeling that he is afraid to leave it b/c he isn't sure what the next place will be like, in which case, once he is there for a little while and maybe even just once he realizes that they are going to try to adopt him and that he is going to have a permanent, steady, and stable home environment with a family who will love him to death--forever, that he will be just fine and not miss us at all. I have mixed feelings about him leaving, and about him missing us. On the one hand, I'm ready to get a break and then again I'm going to miss him like crazy.....and then on the one hand, I kinda want him to miss us a little but then on the other hand, I don't want him to miss us at all b/c it will be an easier transition if he doesn't have a hard time leaving us. It's a crazy mixed up thing, but I know this is for the best. His new family is going to absolutely treat him like a treasure and I think once he realizes that, that he will be in seventh heaven. I feel sure that this is the right thing for him and them, I'm just afraid of the journey.....I guess I have a hard time with change. But I would rather that WE be the ones that have a hard time with it and not him, for his sake. And if it's anything like it was when he left his last foster home and came with us, he barely even mentioned them at all and totally was unconcerned about leaving them....just super excited to come with us. So hopefully it will be like that again.

As for the other one in our house......well......nothing really new on her end. I heard during prayers last night that "Tiny" isn't her friend anymore and "Ta-De" is now her friend b/c "Tiny" squeezed her face and then munchkin headbutted her back and got put in time out so now they're enemies. And then after school today, the bouncer was telling me the same thing about how "Tiny" was getting revenge this morning for the headbutting incident and pushed munchkin's head into a pole and then SHE got time out. LOL. Can't help but laugh. I thought to myself.....isn't she kinda young for this exclusive friend thing to be rotating to new people over stupid little things? Heaven help us when they get old enough to fight over boys. Haha. Other than all that, she's doing fairly well.

I'm really rather tired and my nose is running like a faucet. I'm wondering if maybe the breathing problems and nose dripping thing might be connected. Allergies possibly? I'm on meds for allergies, but maybe it's just getting really thick out there and the meds aren't cutting it all the way. Hm.

I'm going to bed now in hopes that when I wake up......I will be able to breathe normally again. Ya don't know how much you appreciate air until it's not all there. *sigh*

Later.

Wordless Wednesday (almost)

"Scuze me, people! What you looking at? You neva see anycat do work before?"

"Harumph. Can you leave me alone already?"

"*sniff* I've got TOO MANY OTHER THINGS TO----oops.....looked off and hit the caps lock....sorry---Anyways, whoops....hang on just a sec, I see a hair out of place in my nethermost regions"

"Yes, work must wait. Must get my fat self all nice and neat if you're going to be posting these pictures of me all over the internet!!!"

Random Mingle2 Quizzes

Just b/c I can and because I have nothing important to say today and no time to say it in....LOL.

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Lazy Sunday.....NOTTTTT!!!!

What is that like? I've so totally forgotten!!! LOL. From time to time, I am struck with the selfish desire to have one of those again, but then reality hits and I realize it's not all that bad, and I really can't complain. I do get plenty of breaks....

Like when mawmaw and pawpaw take the munchkin and wear her out so that on Sunday when she takes a nap, she sleeps for over 2.5 hours and even then, I have to go wake her up and get her moving (usually she wakes up on her own around 1.5-2 hours) and then she was in bed and very close to asleep by 8:45. Like I said, I really can't complain.

Munchkin just keeps cracking me up with her prayers. She did another one tonight like the other night. I just chuckled inwardly. If we ever get a video camera, that's one of the first moments I want to capture. Without her knowing, of course. LOL. Oh and she got one of those little bedtime prayer bears from mawmaw this weekend and she is in love with that thing. She keeps carrying it around mashing the button so it prays and then looks up at me with this look of total awe on her face and says, "mommy! bear say amen!!!!!" And then she'll mash it again and when it gets to the end, she'll say amen with it. Over and over! It just cracks me up (and then after awhile, it kinda gets on my nerves....hearing the bear saying the same thing over and over, that is....hahah). She's definitely into the praying thing!

Not a whole lot else going on.....the munchkin had an intense screaming tantrum at church this morning. I just let her scream and cry it all out. While holding her and keeping her from hurting herself or me. Yeah, it was one of those kind of fits. Ugh. And it started with her sticking her tongue out at me in a gesture of complete defiance. She's started doing that a LOT lately. I'm not sure where it came from, although I'm guessing it probably came from daycare, but I do know I'm not going to put up with it. I explained to her at a different time than when she was in her fit (b/c there is simply no reasoning with her during those times) that sticking your tongue out when you're mad at someone is not an appropriate behavior and that it was very rude and anytime she did it, it would result in time out or losing privileges or other consequence and she seemed to understand and was okay with it. She hasn't done it since our talk, but then again, there hasn't been any circumstances since then where I've had to let her know that she cannot have her way in a situation. So.....we'll see what happens.

I know one thing....I'm certainly ready for our beach vacation. Have the housesitters lined up and they will take care of the pets and we're looking for the best deal possible on an oceanfront (or very close to) beach house in our favorite beach town. The bouncer will be moving to his new foster home by the end of this week if all goes as planned, so it will just be us and the munchkin and I think that will be plenty to handle. Vacation week cannot come soon enough for me!!!

Well, early morning tomorrow, so I'm gonna head off here now.....

Later!

Misc. Junk and a birthday!!!!

Whoa. But I'm TI-RED. Way.

So I took off Friday to return the bouncer boy to the doctor. This time it was just me and him....and I got down there with NO problems....actually arrived like an hour and 10 minutes EARLY. I was determined not to miss that stinkin overpaid doctor dude again. Anyways, after all that, we still didn't get to see the doc until about half an hour PAST our original appointment time. Are you keeping track? yeah, that means me and bouncer boy sat and waited on this "doctor who keeps a "TIGHT" schedule for more than an hour and a half. Nice, huh? I almost said something but I didn't want to take it out on the nurse...that plus the fact that I had taken along plenty of reading material, so it wasn't like I was bored out of my mind. Now the boy on the other hand.....ROFL. Oh well. If they have to replace a few objects in their office....ya know, maybe they'll think twice about making energetic young kids wait that long. Bwaahaha....nah, don't worry. We left it all in one piece....not too much debris in our wake.

Speaking of wake....A-wake.....i was having one DIFFICULT time driving down there Friday morning. The kiddo was watching a movie and quiet as a mouse, so I was left to talk to myself. I'm sure it was pretty funny to hear me giving myself a pep talk
"sleepy plus five lanes of traffic is not good, honey.....girl, you need some coffee.....think about something you gotta do later....come on, wake up, lady! You are responsible and you will wake up. Come on!!!! You can do this. Just open your eyes. No, really. Whoa lady, that was close. There's too much traffic for you to be like this. Just wake up already. Okay. Let's see, what are the projects you need to work on tonight. Uh.....did you forget anything when you rushed out of the house this morning?"

And it's not a smart idea to run over those little wake up things on the sides of the lanes either.....they kinda distract kids from the movie they're watching. And this kid, who can't remember diddly squat about anything else, remembers that mom did this twice when recounting the trip to dad later. Go figure. Anyways, really, I wasn't dangerous or anything although I was sleepy, I went over the sleep lines cuz I was...um....well, I don't remember exactly why I did but I know I was awake. At least I think I was. AnywAYS. Don't shoot me mom....

Remember, it was kinda like sleep-thirty in the morning when we had to get on the road. And the sun was coming up right in my eyes and I had no sunglasses, so that kinda made things worse....oh well. I made it. We made it. One piece and no worries.

Oh and by the way, the diagnosis? Doc asks kiddo a few questions, gives him a few commands, writes down a couple of things, looks back through his file and then asks me a few questions, most of which I have no answer for, since we were given little details. Then he tells me that he has no idea why DSS was so insistent that bouncer be referred to him for testing since there are no blood tests that they can run to tell for sure. Not only that, but the diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is made strictly by observations and sure, he has a "few" of the symptoms of it and given his background history, it could certainly be a possibility, but also considering his background, his symptoms could very well be just a result of his awful upbringing and nothing FAS related at all. And even if he DID have FAS, there is nothing they can give him or any treatment that could be done to resolve the issue other than therapy and medicines to control his behaviours that he is getting now. So it was nice meeting you and have a great day.

Then he leaves the room and I follow him out, somewhat stunned, and he tells the nurse at the desk to get him a sticker and disappears into his next patient's room.

Well alrighty then.

So make that TWO fruitless trips to the big city two hours from home. *sigh*

Anyways, I took my time coming back and b/c the bouncer was being so incredibly good and well-behaved (I'm serious, no kidding at all here...I was totally amazed) I told him that if he didn't want to go back to school, that he could stay with me the rest of the day. Of course, he jumped on THAT idea. So we stopped at a thrift store and browsed for a little while and then went to mickey-d's and I let him play in the play place for awhile before we headed back.

Oh yeah and I *MUST* insert here that when we stopped at the thrift store, I parallel parked our SUV, ya'll! I mean like the textbook parallel park which I have never EVER done in the almost 10 years I have been driving since we were not required to do it in drivers ed nor in the license exam. I always just pull in if there are more than one spaces open if I *have* to park in a parking like that. But Friday....I pulled forward, and backed my SUV into a parking spot that had a car on each end of it and a brick wall at the back. And I didn't hit anything and I didn't have to readjust at all. I just backed in and then pulled forward just a little bit to center in the spot. Can you tell I was extremely proud of this feat? Yes. I MOST certainly was. AND, I was in the big city with lots of traffic and other cars around. WOHOOOHOO. *doin the victory dance here*

To be continued.....KC is wanting to go outside and look at the stars for a few minutes and I don't know when I'm gonna get back so I'm gonna go ahead and hit post. Kinda romantic don't ya think? LOL.

Later.

Kay....I'm back. That was extremely short lived.....it's overcast tonight and no stars. Bummer. Oh well, it's the thought that counts, honey!!!!

And speaking of honey, a munchkin funny tonight.....she was finishing her late supper when I hollered into the other room to see if KC had bouncer ready for bed and out of the bathroom yet:

"Hey, HONEY?" {no answer}

"HONNNNEEEEEEYYYYYY??? {long pause and no answer from "honey" while I look at her dumbfounded and she thinks for a minute--then) DADDDY??????? HEY DADDY?????? DADDDY!!!!!"

"Nevermind, munchkin.....we'll just go see if he's done, okay?"

LOL!

Anyways, we think this is going to be our last weekend with the bouncer as we heard Friday that he may be moving into his hopefully-adoptive home this coming week. I'm kinda happy and kinda sad. This weekend has been awesome with him since munchkin has been at the grandparents last night and today. He doesn't know anything yet and I'm not sure when DSS wants us to talk to him about it. We have tried to do some fun things with him since this is our last weekend with him....today we went up to the grandparents to pick up munchkin and let both of them play in the creek for a few hours before we came home. Actually, all six of us played in the creek for a few hours before we came home. LOL. But I was threatened with the beating of my life if I posted anymore pictures of one of those six people on here. Haha! Anyways, I will try to post a couple of pictures on the private blog, but no promises since I'm really tired. Just for fun though, here are a few pictures I took while playing around with the camera. Everyone got tired of me snapping pictures of them, so I started taking pictures of myself. LOL. Got some funny ones....haha.

Before I got desperate enough to take pictures of myself, I took pictures of all kinds of weird angles of the pots and things on KC's mom's porch while the kids were playing. I got a lot of the kids, too, but none I can post on here.....as usual!

Anyways, I kinda liked some of the pot ones.....reminds me of some kind of print or something. Or maybe I just have weird taste. Oh well....

Would you believe that these pots are the same pot just different angles and more curve applied in CS2? Yeah, you probably would. I think I'm probably the only person who is actually impressed by stuff like that. Haha. Back to my previous statement of me probably being weird. Yep. Probably.

Aw, weird me. Wanta know something else? I caught a minnow and a little crawfish when we were all playing in the creek today. And not only that, but I let the little crawfish crawl up on my finger and I wasn't like all "girly" about it and didn't get the heebiejeebies over it. Way to go, me! LOL. Like I said. Weird.

It's really gonna show tonight cuz I'm tired and having a hard time censoring the weirdness out. Hahah.

Okay. So one last thing before I go.........

To one of my favorite (okay THE favorite, but don't tell anyone! HAHA!!!)....co-worker.......(that isn't related to me of course....hahahah)

Happy BIRTH-day, dear WAL-lyyyyyyy......HAAAAPPPPYYYY BIRTHDAYYYYY TOOOOO YOUUUUUUU! I know you're probably way deep in sleepland about now since you've got some long workdays ahead but just wanted to take a minute and wish you happy birthday. I was going to do a card for you but unexpectedly had to be out on Friday. =( I'm sorry. I hope your birthday is wonderful even if you do have to work. I'll miss you while you're gone next week....don't have too much fun in cinnnceeenatti! =)

And now.....this is me.....signing out.....

Later,

Always.Faith.......

Stinky day.

The following is a letter I sent to DSS tonight after our pretty rotten day. {} these little things refer to proper names that I used in the actual letter, but removed for privacy's sake in order to post it here. This pretty much sums up a lot of the rotten-ness of today:

Dear {DSS}

I need somebody to call me first thing tomorrow morning regarding {bouncer}'s appointment in {big city located two hours from our town} today at the specialist for the testing that he was supposed to have. There has apparently been some mixup in communications. Today was pretty much a total failure of a trip.

I got to {big city located two hours from our town} with him at 2:55 for his appointment at 3pm today, and the directions I had gotten off the internet were ROYALLY wrong and we got lost in {big city located two hours from our town} for 20 minutes before we were able to finally find the place. Then when we got in there, they came out and told us that the doctor had already left for the day b/c he was on a tight schedule and only waited 15 minutes past the appointment time and then went on to his hospital rounds and would not be back. So they told me to go ahead and reschedule. When I'm making a new appointment, they ask me if I got the "packet" for his visit and I say no, so they hand me a form and ask me if there are any changes....

To make a long story short, I had to explain to them that I was his foster mother. All their paperwork of the information they received from {his local doctor's office that referred him to the specialist} had his bio mother and some {midsized city located a half hour from our town} address (to which all the paperwork, that I "supposedly" was to receive, was mailed). THEN they told me that had the doctor BEEN there, they still would not have seen him because someone from DSS has to be with me there in order for anything to happen since he is in DSS custody. I'm sure that {our social worker} did not know that, and I'm also sure that I didn't know that either.

Anyways, they had a cancellation for 9am on Friday morning and I told them to put us in that. I will arrange to take off again on Friday to take him, but a woman from DSS will need to go with me and {bouncer} (or else someone needs to work it out so that the proper authorization will be there and we will be able to see the doctor the next time we go).

Please call me ASAP to make arrangements so that we will know how to proceed.

Thanks,
Faith

Now why in the world they did not have updated information at the doctor's office that referred him is beyond me.....since he has seen that doctor AFTER he's been in DSS custody and obviously he was not with his bio childbearing unit at that time, so why didn't they update the file? It sure would have been helpful to have had that packet of information....including accurate directions.

On the bright side, maybe there was a reason we got lost.....maybe if his bio childbearing unit got that packet of information, she might have known about the appointment and arranged to be there at three and then thought we weren't going to show and left....???? Hum. It's a thought. I'd like to think there was at least ONE good reason for the way things happened. LOL.

Anyways, rest of the day? Ugh.

Poor Nikni, who went with me (and thank God she did or I'd have still been trying to navigate the streets of Charlotte while fielding the bouncer's thousand and one questions and holding a map and trying to avoid becoming car pancake in all that traffic and all the u-turns that I had to commit while trying to find the place), anyways, she was sick (bless her heart) right in the mcdonalds drive through when I stopped to grab some lunch and I was late and couldn't take her back home before the appointment.

I have had a sore throat all day.

We both had a headache by the time we got back. (and she had one when we started although it went away after she threw up).

The bouncer's meds wore off around 4-ish and for anyone who's calculating, that was around 5+ hours we were in the car altogether so he was getting restless anyways......

Stopped for supper after we had stopped at the craft stores in the midsized city on the way back (to make the trip feel a little less pointless of course) and had to wait forever for our food while the two little chicklets in the drive through sat there and talked while they S L O W L Y worked on getting the orders put in the bag. Hello! Made us late getting back to church. Of course that was the reason, not that we stopped at the craft stores....naturally. LOL. Anyways, after all that, we deserved a little sidetrip by those lovely little oasis's.....is that correct grammar? Awww who cares.

After a day like today? NOT ME.

A few good things did come of my day off though.....
Got the bouncer registered for school.
Got almost 4 loads of laundry done....WHOOOOHOOOO.....
Got all the sheets on the bed cleaned and made up. DOUBLE WHOOHOO!
Tidied up the house.
Filled the prescription meds that I have a hard time filling b/c my pharmacy and my job are in way different places and if I change pharmacies to closer where I work, I will have a hard time filling prescriptions when I'm sick and didn't go to work.....so instead, I have to get off work early to get up here and go by before they close for the day. Hey any excuse to get off work huh? Haha. Kidding of course.

Anyways....so it wasn't all bad, but it sure would have been nice if my throat hadn't hurt the whole time....and if my head would stop hurting now. *sigh*
Gripe gripe....I'm going to bed now!

Later!

Our Funny Little Munchkin

Goodness gravy, she has been absolutely cracking me up the last couple of days!!!!!

Okay. SO Sunday night we had a footwashing service (for anyone who is not familiar with that, our church observes it as one of the ordinances like communion service -- where Jesus, in humility, served his disciples before the last supper, by washing their feet). Anyways, I have mixed feelings about the whole thing, but that's a whole 'nother blog post which may or may not ever happen, particularly since it's just my opinion and probably not a very popular one....and also probably not one that needs to be voiced.

Anywho, all that aside, my problems with this particular footwashing service were:
1. I did not know Sunday morning until after morning service, that Sunday night was to be a footwashing service.
2. We had choir practice Sunday afternoon (which means we had a quick lunch and got home so I could get Munchkin a nap before going back to the church early for choir).
3. I had to run to Walmart while Munchkin and KC were taking a nap to pick up some scrap supplies as well as other necessary household items that we were running out of....like bread and dryer sheets and hair gel....blah blah blah.
4. There was no time in that picture to take a shower.
5. From previous other posts, ya'll are well aware of my habits on clearing the forests on the lower limbs of my body, so I'm not going to spell it out what #4 is really saying.
6. In footwashing service, people see your feet...and ankles....and if you don't want your skirt wet, maybe even parts of your L.E.G. Not good, people, not good at all. At least the girls and guys separate for that part of the service, so it was just us girls in there. Still.
7. I completely forgot to make sure that my toes weren't totally gross or anything.....yikes.
8. Munchkin + Water = ????

Well. Okay then. So we get in the circle and some of the ladies start the footwashing thing....and around our place, they don't do the organized one person wash the person beside them and then that person turn to the person beside them......

No, it's whoever, whenever.....and generally turns into chaos in which everyone is boohoo-ing and hugging and trying to make sure they get everybody's feet so no one gets offended.....and when you've got 30 women/girls......well....that could take awhile. Oh wait, I'm getting sidetracked. And no, I'm not mad about that.

Anywho, I sat there and just sang along with the munchkin on my lap watching in absolute fascination. I wasn't that fascinated, she was. Then someone came and washed my feet and while I sat there in utter humiliation over the forest over my ankles, the munchkin stared in wonder and delight at the process. THEN they washed hers. And it was ON, ya'll.

Next thing I know, she's starting to sniffle. I'm like, is her nose running or what? Okay...no biggie, I'll just get out of the circle and get her a tissue....great excuse, no? And I get her a tissue and tell her to blow her nose, and she says no. Instead, she dabs at her eyes and sniffs again like she's some old woman at a funeral or something. I'm thinking.....wait a minute....?

I go back and sit down. She's on my lap. Every few minutes, she dabs at her cheeks like there are tears there, only they're dry. And she sniffs. Then someone comes and washes my feet and then hers and I hear her starting to sob. Only it is more fake than a three dollar bill. She does this for about five or six sobs, continuing the dabbing eyes and sniffing thing and then when they dried her feet, she gives them a huge hug and does the fake sob again.

Do ya'll know how hard it is to not DIE laughing at something so funny....particularly at a time when everything is so SERIOUS? It's like getting tickled at a funeral or something.

So I put my head down, covered my mouth and cracked up laughing......adding a few sniffs so it would look like I was getting hugely blessed instead of dying laughing.....really, I was trying to be good....haha.

And she looks up at me and thinks I'm crying and so she REALLY puts it on then, and she was so incredibly serious about it. She was totally copying everyone else. It was hys-TERICAL. Of course, then she wanted to help wash other's feet, so I let her help me as I did a couple and then we sat back down and waited for everyone else to finish....and people kept coming and washing ours although it was less of a boohoo session by this point, so she had stopped doing that. And then she was getting a little too carried away with it, so I had to put a stop to it until the end of the service....which was not fun.

But seriously, it was SO funny to watch her try to do what she saw everyone else doing....and the fake sniffing and wiping her cheeks and then just going all the way to the real sobs only without any tears....ROFL. It was just killing me. *grin*

ANYWAYS....with all that, I had a real hard time getting into the seriousness of the service. But humility is in the heart.....and you can show it by serving others in many ways, not JUST by washing their feet.....cuz really, you can wash someones feet and not mean it a bit, just doing a form. Oh well. I got full dose of humility.......humiliating really.....totally.

Okay. Fast forward to tonight. Putting munchkin to bed. Rocking her in the bedroom in the dark, praying softly. I finish.....then.....

Munchkin looks up at me, so I ask her if she wants to pray.....she says yes.

So she starts praying......

"Deaw Gaw hev faw tank you cuch, tank you tiny, tank you biends, tank you Nonna, ummmb, umb, ummmm, hep nikni, and big daddy, hep nonna, poppa, oh pawpaw, hep mawmaw night ummmmmmm, hep tiny, hep cuch, hep biends, ummmmm AMEN. Wait....mommy, daddy booboo??????"

"Yes, you can pray for daddy's booboo."

"Kay. Deaw Gaw, hev faw, my daddy booboo finger, have bandaid night hep daddy booboo all be-ew....um....and BIG daddy, too! ummmm AMEN! Mommy, daddy booboo AW be-ew?"

"Yes, sweetie, you prayed for daddy's booboo. Now it will get all better.


Now for the English translation and explanations:

"Dear God, Heavenly Father, thank you {for} church, thank you {for} tiny (her little friend at school that is nicknamed tiny b/c she's so little), thank you {for} friends, thank you {for} Nonna (my mom -- who stayed with her on Saturday and apparently left a pretty favorable impression), ummm, um....(yes, she is using FILLER WORDS, ya'll!!!! OH MY HEAVENS it cracked me up) help Nikni (Nikki-her teacher) and big daddy (nikki's hubby - nicknamed big daddy) help Nonna, Poppa (my parents), help pawpaw, mawmaw night (kc's parents and I'm assuming she's praying to go stay the night with them again...LOL....rotten young-un! haha) ummm...help tiny, help church, help friends, ummmm, AMEN. Wait.....Mommy {can I pray for} daddy's booboo?"

"Okay. Dear God, Heavenly Father, my daddy {has a} booboo {on his} finger, have bandaid {on it to}night, help daddy booboo all better....um.....and big daddy, too! ummm....AMEN. Mommy? Daddy booboo all better?"

Okay so the {} was the inserts to make it make sense....she's still working on the connectors in her sentences, but she's got the UMM downpat. And I have no idea why she added big daddy, too in her last little bit, but that's definitely what she said. TOO funny. And daddy really does have a bandaid around his thumb where he broke a blister from shoveling all the mulch and yardwork that he did over the weekend.

And by the way, she did that "AMEN! Wait....deaw gaw hev faw, hep ___" several times for different things, I just don't remember all of them. It was real cute....her little PS's to her prayers.

Funny child, this munchkin!
The funniest thing is she doesn't know she's so funny! LOL.

Anyways, got typing cramps so I'm off now.

Later, ya'll!

Weekend Update

So first b/c I have pictures: the CK convention in Charlotte.......

Got lots of really cool ideas for projects from the vendor faire. I like getting ideas better than I like shopping....well....almost. Haha. Anyways, the most appealing thing for me this year was the home decor projects. I'm so hooked. Actually, both classes that we took were making projects for home decor. It was sweet!

So here are some cool ideas that we saw in the vendor faire: both of these are hanging wall plaques, one out of heavy cardboard/chipboard and the other out of canvas. The canvas ones also had single ones with magnets on the back but I forgot to take a picture. Anyways, we got a couple packs of the canvas to do our own.

Then these next few pictures are from our second class, which was making a magnetic calendar. Unfortunately, you didn't get to make this way cool metal frame thing, just the magnet part, but I do have to say that it looks really really cool on my refrigerator so far!!!! And when we got home, we got some of my supplies and made another one for the church.....they all look SO cool.

A closer view of one:

Then there was us sitting in the classroom right before the class started....

another idea they talked about in the magnetic class was taking pictures of your kids in their bathing suits and printing it in a 5x7 size and putting magnets on the back of it and then cutting out clothing for it out of old scraps and putting magnets on THAT, and then your kids can play on the fridge....paper dolls out of THEMSELVES. Is that cool or what???? I thought it was!

Then, this was something else we saw in the vendor faire. I loved the idea, but I ain't payin no 6.99 for a cardboard album that I can make myself and buy a few jump rings at walmart. Hello! So I took a picture and I'm going to do one. I mean, those are great if you don't have a whole lot of time, and I'm sure it was worth someone's time to make them and sell them for 6.99, but not for me when I am fully capable of doing it myself. LOL.

Anyways, there was lots of cool ideas that I want to steal....I mean borrow. *grin* LOL. Someday when I have the time, of course!!! Haha.

Oy, something else that was way cool....I got to meet the famous scrap-lebrity, Jessica Sprague, whose blog I stalk.....er...I mean read....haha.....and whose tutorials I find myself constantly bookmarking b/c she is such a photoshop genious.....and I got her autograph on my convention program. LOL. I got home and told KC that I met her and he was like uh, so, what did you do, get her autograph and I was like....duh, yeah! "Are you SERIOUS?" he says! "As a heart-attack!" I say laughing. He was dumbfounded. LoL! I finally told him that really, it's not that I'm such a weirdo, b/c everyone wanted to meet her and take pictures and lalala b/c she's like THE Jessica Sprague. *grin* Not that I'm not geeky like that, too, but anyways...I wasn't the only one. Anywho, I was psyched about that. LOL.

I'm really tired and I'm getting ready for bed. I should totally just come back and talk about Sunday tomorrow. Okay. You know what, I'm going to. Okay. Now that I've decided that, I'll catch ya.....

Later!

Monday Messages #2

Dear Index Fingernail on my Right Hand,
OW! What is UP with you? I need you to work properly. Now I know it is not commonly thought that fingernails have a job to do, but this pain you are causing in my poor index finger every time I try to use an ink pen or type is really irritating. Just because a piece or two of paper might have jammed up underneath you a couple of times does not give you an excuse to cause trouble. Your job is to look pretty (another task that you seem to have lots of trouble accomplishing) and not being painful. Thank you very much. Oh and by the way, turning red and throbbing is also NOT in your job description.
Love (not),
Painfully Irritated


Dear Kid's Bedrooms,
OOOH. You are driving me crazy. Why am I so distressed over the state of disorderliness in you when it doesn't bother me that mine looks nearly that bad itself. Please explain this, I really want to know.
Love,
the adult who winces when she passes your door


Dear Private Blog,
Please excuse my lack of private thoughts lately. I find myself scarcely able to keep up with my public blog on a regular basis since bouncer came along, but I promise one of these days I'll get back to having private thoughts. *tired smile* In the meantime, please forgive me that I find it easier to just post thoughts here that probably *should* be posted on you.
Love,
too busy to think


Dear CK Convention,
I love you. You are one of the highlights of my year. You totally lifted me out of the scrapping funk I've been in for the last few months. I hope to blog very soon about the day I spent with you on Saturday. And post pictures, too....I had a lovely time. See you next year, Lord willing!
Love,
In the mood to scrapbook again


Dear hubby,
You SO rock! Man, I love you! And really, this isn't because you gave your full approval for me to leave for a full day on Saturday.....and not only that, but to spend money if I wanted (although I know I don't necessarily need your approval, it does feel good to have your blessing beforehand). On top of all that, you entertained the bouncer almost all day, and got all kinds of yardwork done, and took bouncer shopping for noisy, irritating laser guns with his birthday money....then when I got home, you weren't mad about me continuing scrapping with "Nik-ni" and topped it all off with ordering pizza for supper so I wouldn't have to cook. I am so lucky. You totally made my day! I love you honey!
Forever,
Yours


Dear people on the road to work this morning,
No, I wasn't drunk. I was sleeping. Er. Slee-PY. Not sleeping. Not exactly. And no, I wasn't having seizures when you saw me wildly throwing my arms around and jerking my shoulders....I was trying to get the blood flowing up to my eyelids so they would not keep falling shut on me. I hope I didn't scare anyone too badly. *yawn*
Love,
Sleepy


Dear munchkin,
You absolutely cracked me up last night at church. I will have to make a separate post about this very soon. However, I just wanted to let you know that "Map" is too old for you and you SO need to stop flirting with him. And watching him adoringly all service long? *LOL* And I'm sorry, but the answer to your question is, "No, I'm not going to ask 'Map' to come home with you tonight." But the really funny stuff about the ladies footwashing service afterwards I'll have to save for a new post. You are just hysterical. And I do want you to know that you made it very difficult for me to not bust out laughing in a very serious and emotional time for so many of those ladies.
Love,
Mommy


Dear "Nonna"
Munchkin loved having you keep her on Saturday. Not nearly as much as I loved you keeping her though. Also not nearly as much as I loved having a "ME" day. But that was quite a huge lot, so I think you can safely say that you were a smashing success in the munchkin's book.
Love,
Your daughter
PS If you ever find any more of those monkey puppets, I want one.... ;-)


Dear bed,
I'm so very sorry that we haven't been able to spend much time together lately. I'm especially sorry that our quality morning time has been cut so short since the kidlets came along...unfortunately they are higher on my priority list than you are. I hope you're not offended. You seem to be making it really hard for me to get out of you in the mornings lately. You've been extra comfortable and warm the last couple of days and I just want you to know that I love you and all, but could you just lay off just a bit on that? I find myself thinking about you during the day and that that's not real good, as I'm sure you can imagine. Are you doing this on purpose to pay me back for my neglect of you? Maybe you'd feel better if I would straighten up your covers in the morning before disappearing for the day?? It's not much to make up for my....I mean YOUR....suffering, but I suppose I might could take a few minutes to do that for you. Anyways, I'll try to get together with you tonight before midnight.
As always,
Your Sleep-deprived Slave---ER.....that is.....MASTER...yeah. Master.

Dear Hectic Life,
Yes. It's me again. Do you know how crazy you are making me? I am just falling apart! I find myself forced to apologize for not getting something done or missing something or forgetting dates or just letting someone down...much too often recently. Why are you doing this to me? Will you please just lay off for a little bit?? I'd like to get some things taken care of so that I won't feel constantly behind. Don't know that you care how I'm feeling, but just thought I'd let ya know. Kay? Thanks.
Love,
Still trying to catch up


Dear vacation,
Is it almost time for us to come see you yet? No? Okay. . . . . . . . . How bout now?.....still no? bummer. Okay. Well, I'll be waiting anxiously!
Love,
Desperate

Thursday Thirteen (My Daddy)

This is really one day off, but since it's still Thursday but thirty minutes from Friday, it's close enough to count (in my opinion....and it's my blog, so that's all that really counts anyways....hahahah. j/k)......

Anyways, I decided to do today's thirteen on my daddy......whose birthday is tomorrow.

Thirteen Favorite Memories/Things I Love About My Daddy:

1. His laugh. It's very distinctive but it makes him a distinctly cheerful person.

2. The time we were riding across one of the northern state lines....we were either going or coming from my grandma's in NY and she was in the back seat of the van with me and my brother, and for miles my mother had been telling dad he needed to stop and get gas, but he kept saying it would be cheaper over the border. And then I looked up from the book I was reading to find out why the car was coasting over to the edge of the road. And then dad had to walk over the hill (and I think it was actually across the border) with a jug to get enough gas to make it to the gas station. Ahhh...fond memories. (See honey, I get my love of hanging out on "E" honestly!!!)

3. His Italian-ness. I love my dark-skinned daddy. I also love the permanent tan I inherited from him. (unfortunately, I didn't get enough to cover my legs....they are blindingly white....ROFL!!! But hey...I'm only half eye-tal-e-un after all...what do you expect? At least the tan part is the part of my body that everyone sees.....I can hide my legs, but I'd look pretty funny wearing a skirt over my face!! BWHAAHAHA.....how did I get on this?)

4. The sweet way that he made gnocchi's for me and my momma for our birthdays in March. And the way we never told him, but I had been hoping that he would! And then he did. Awww.

5. How concerned he is over my health. So much so, that he buys me vitamins and protein and calls me to make sure I'm taking them. Do you know that every time I see the bottle on my desk, I reach over and grab one so that when he calls, I won't have to feel guilty b/c I haven't taken them. Hahaah.

6. The bike rides he used to take my brother and me on when we were kids. We were never allowed to leave our property on our bikes, but when dad would take us, he'd take us to far off places....like down to the lake or over to our friends house (which was several miles away). One time one of us kids even made him wreck by accident cuz we stopped right in front of him and his tire caught ours and he rolled into the road on the rough pavement. He got scraped up pretty good. But he didn't get mad.

7. The way he built us a tree house.....and waited until we were big enough to help him build it....

8. Oh yeah, and the way he always made us come outside and help him when he was doing some kind of hard labor. I didn't appreciate it then, of course, but now that we've got kids??? Hehehehehehe.....different story!!! And of course the fact that I'm not one of those spoiled kids who never had to work and grew up lazy.....oh wait. I am kinda lazy. Oh well. Don't worry, dad, it's not your fault. Hehe

9. His willingness to help everybody. And his willingness to help in the house. He did more around the house than almost anybody. He was definitely a hubby that gave the mom a break from chores when he was home. When they say a girl looks for someone like her daddy when she gets ready to get married, I'd have to say that it's got some truth to it. My baby is just like my daddy on this one!!!! Love me some boys like that!

10. Camping trips....particularly vivid are the ones with the old youth group. Dad worked so hard to make sure everybody had fun.

11. Shortcuts. Nuff said.

12. The driving skills he passed down to his daughter....again....nuff said.

13. And finally....his love. Always there, always freely given, no strings attached.

I love you, daddy! Happy Birthday!

Wordless Wednesday