J.J. Updates

These next 2 days will tell us more about J.J.'s sitch. In the morning we have his lawyer coming to our house. Yay.

The last time this lawyer and I had the pleasure of one another's company we parted with equal, although sugarcoated, annoyance with one another. When we were addressing the matter of why JJ's bio mom was being given the choice of pulling her son out of foster care to adopt him out to her friend, she told me she believes, "in the parent's choice with regards to their children".

I, too, believe in the parents right to make choices, "I absolutely agree that parents have a choice - a choice not to do drugs, drink, and endanger their children. That's the choice she had. She chose badly for her son. Why do you think she's capable of choosing the best thing for him now?"

Yeah...it pretty much went downhill from there.

Well, nowadays bio-mom is "choosing" some not-so-good things again, so I guess we'll see what Mrs-fancy-pants-lawyer says now.

After what's sure to be a stimulating visit with her, we're off to JJ's pediatrician to get him assessed for what I'm sure are seizures. He's always had some questionable episodes that concerned me, but they're increasing. And his caseworker (whom we love) has given us a heads-up on the bad mojo that went on in-utero for JJ.

Real bad mojo.

So, we need to be proactive about anything out of the norm for age-appropriate development. We may eventually be under the care of a pediatric neurologist. Whatever happens, I love that kid. He's my only boy whose first word was, "Mama". That's my boy, right there!

We'll get through whatever comes.

And then after that fun-filled day, we wake up and I head off to court. The judge wants bio-mom back to discuss JJ's case plan (which has already been changed to adoption) and see how the case is looking. Remember that we don't yet have "current care-taker status" and therefor have no legal leg to stand on when it comes to JJ. He's just a foster placement until he's been with us for 6 months. that's still 2 months away. We're relying on the state's apprehension to move kids unnecessarily. Especially when he's so stinkin' bonded to us.

Did I mention that I love that kid? What a cutie, huh?

Back from Vacation...and Back to School

Aaaaah. Always good to get home from a vacation. We had a great time, and were able to bid the summertime farewell with family and fun. My childern even managed to be all better for the trip! YAY!

Here's some shots of stuff we did:

Uncle Daniel and Auntie Angela were so kind to let us stay with them in their new house in Grants Pass. Here are the cousins bundled up together, watching a movie before bed time. Baby was sleeping in his port-crib.

This is Abigale, cousin Nikki's rat. My boys adored Abigale (or, as Levi called her, "Micky Mouse").

We visited Great World Cats. These folks house and train bunches of large cats of all sorts for movies. If you've seen a movie with a big cat in it, he probably lives here. They're trained to attack the fence and growl on cue. We were sitting on this bench when the cue for attack was given. Levi freaked right out, then promptly stood up on the bench told the tiger off, "NO, NO Kitty-Cat! Scare me!" It was pretty freaky.

Spectacular.

He's sticking out his tongue!

We also visited a rehabilitation/refuge for stray and hurt wild birds and animals. I took this picture before I saw the sign. The one right behind the guys. Whoops.
Truthfully, I don't remember what exactly we're looking at here, but I like Solomon's little tushy.
Mommy and her boys.
Then, while I stayed with the little ones, Daddy and Uncle Daniel took the big boys to the Oregon Caves.

Daddy and his eldests.
Now it's time to burrow into our school year....

Malachi's 5 Year Pics

Because my children refuse to all be well at the same time, I've been unable to take the whole crew to a portrait studio to get Malachi's 5 year pictures taken. So, I just took him outside and took some shots myself. They'll have to do. For some reason my computer isn't letting me download these with the enhancements I've made to them. Some I put into sepia or black and white or added vignettes for my framing needs. They turned out pretty darned cute, and we saved some money!

...and, of course, the picture that will most likely sum up his 5th year:Goof ball.

Life with my Guys

Well, we've had an interesting few days over here. Including but not limited to:

Dragging my incredibly deep sleeper out of bed to go potty at midnight. I stabilized my groggy boy on his feet and prodded him toward the door, turned around to re-cover Solomon, then heard a noise a lot like pee hitting fabric. Almost exactly like pee hitting fabric. I turned around to see my disoriented boy swaying slightly as he peed into his clothes hamper. It was funny the next morning. Funnier was my boy who didn't even remember the incident, laughing heartily with his brother when I told them what had happened.

Micah walking in the door after work, eyes tired from a long day. He stopped next to the kitchen table to remove his (very expensive, special order) contacts and drops one. In the blink of an eye, before Micah can stoop to retrieve it, the Pomeranian flew onto the scene and licked it up.

That, folks, was a very expensive dog treat.

Our cat somehow injuring only the pads of his front paws. Pieces of his pads were actually falling off.
And vet offices are the absolute worst place to bring my brood. My boys adore creatures of all kinds. Maybe they get that particular trait from their Mama. But going to the vet stinks. Not only am I dealing with a hurt/sick animal of my own, but my children walk in the door and see 15 beautiful, fuzzy (sick, injured and usually scared and cheesed off) animals lounging on people's laps. Just waiting, no, begging to be petted. It's torture for them. And our vet doesn't take appointments, so in return for better prices, you wait with the hordes. It usually takes a couple of hours at least.
I swear, if I get 1 more kid, I'm switching to a more expensive and less time consuming clinic.

Micah and the baby, who had so far managed to elude the viral yuck circulating the household, woke up not feeling well. We're leaving for vacation on Friday! C'mon!

And then there's the whole Foster Family Annual Picnic. But that's a whole 'nother post...

What Levi Learned:

(Fornote from Mom: Please keep in mind that I buy the "micro-petite" carrots which are harvested no more than 23 hours after they germinate, and there are only 4 on his plate... )

"Eat your carrots" does not mean:

*Give my carrots to the dog, tell Mom, "All done!" and ask for dessert.
(Mom will give me more)

*Give my carrots to the baby, tell Mom, "All done!" and ask for dessert.
(Ugh. Mom will actually take the carrots away from the baby, wash them and give them back)

*Bite my carrots in tiny little pieces and spread them strategically around my plate. Tell Mom, "All done!" and ask for dessert.
(Mom will spoon them into a neat little pile and fold her arms)

*Shove my carrots down my shirt, tell Mom, "All done!" and ask for dessert.
(Mom will give me the turny-head/squinty-eye, dig out the carrots and put them back on my plate)

*Chew my carrots until they're Gerber consistency, spit them onto my plate, tell Mom, "All done!" and ask for dessert.
(Mom will still insist I eat them - gross!)

*Hide my decimated carrot mush under my plate, tell Mom, "All done!" and ask for dessert.
(Mom will lift the plate and find them. By this time, my older brothers have cleaned their plates and Mom will make a production of slowly scooping some ice cream into bowls for them.)

Alas, "Eat your carrots" sadly means I have to chew and swallow the blasted things.

Now I know.

(End note from Mom: Envy finally superseded stubbornness and the boy did get his ice cream.)

Sicky #3

Well, I was up with the other dwarfs (Sneezy, Snotty and Pukey) last night. It appears that Levi has joined his brothers in the land of sick. I'm eyeing the baby suspiciously today as he's been fussy and clingy. Usually I take my sickies in stride but we're planning a small family vacation next week and

I'm hoping everyone is well.

Poor little Levi - I didn't want to bother him with his "massive amounts of conditioner regiment" as he was already at the end of his rope. He did manage to muster a bit of a smile, though...

His brothers made sure he was comfy (I'm pretty sure that every pillow in the house is in a 2 foot radius of his tushy) and Monsters Inc. was put on continuous play for his enjoyment. Now we'll just hope it runs it's course quickly!

J.J. Updates

Our guy learned how to open the wipe container...and I learned that 80 wipes is a lot of wipes.

Well, it's always interesting when one of our little guys' caseworkers visit! We had both visit this morning, so it was very interesting.

And it always surprises me how quickly a DHS case can change.

Like, in 30 seconds.

J.J.'s mom has now said that she's comfortable with us adopting him, and as far as we know, the idea of her choosing a friend to adopt him is not flying with the courts. And his older brother's adoptive family isn't pursuing custody at this time, either. That leaves us as the permanency options at this time.

Of course, as I mentioned before, cases can change suddenly and without warning, so we're still far from celebrating.

On an interesting side note, we also found out that his birth father is African-American. Bearing in mind that this is what birth mom says. We're on the sceptical side of that one. I could see it, though, and have often wondered. His hair always threw me, though, as it has super soft waves, not curly-ques.

Really, other than that, I could see it. Whatever he is, he's sure cute!

On Levi's case, we're just waiting our turn in line to have the judge sign the paperwork. Everything on our end is done and submitted. Maybe we'll have this wrapped up and finalized by the end of the year!

What a wonderful Christmas gift that would be!

Another interesting point in our day was when I took Levi to the fruit stand. I left the baby home to nap and the big boys to hang out with Daddy. I figured Levi and I would buy some local berries and pick up the bananas he's been asking after. Also, this particular stand has a dessert shack offering amazing summer treats made with fresh produce. If you ever have the chance to try vanilla-lavender ice cream, by the way, jump at it. Amazing.

Anyway, we were there enjoying one another's company when we noticed a cute little girl about Levi's age. Beautiful black ringlets, big brown eyes, the works. Just adorable. Her mom had a newborn in a sling. Levi loves babies and we were discussing how cute they were.

Later as we were enjoying our ice cream at the picnic bench, they approached us and said, "Is that you, (my son's birth name)?"

Levi, not knowing his birth name, didn't take notice.

I sure did.

My defenses immediately FLEW up, but I think I did OK. Turns out that the cute little girl is his cousin. I was talking to his aunt. They had visits with my boy at his previous foster home and wanted to be a permanent resource for him. Then she became pregnant with her second baby and her husband was in a terrible car accident. They knew that they couldn't handle any more. Shortly after that he moved in with us. The last we heard was that they didn't live in our area.

I guess they do.

I got her e-mail and agreed to the possibility of a playdate at the park for Levi and the curly-haired cousin. She seemed nice enough and severely disapproving of the choices her family had made in regards to their lifestyle. Said she and her husband didn't associate with any of that side of the family because of their poor choices.

I'll be more comfortable with this whole "connecting with birth family" thing AFTER his adoption is finalized, however.

Makes me jumpy...

Time for Some Headlines

My 2 oldest are sick today. I need some comic relief after our eventful Sunday morning pancake breakfast. The one I mopped off the breakfast table after kid #2 couldn't hold it down and re-issued it all over everyone else's half-eaten plates. So, having couched the spewer with a big bowl, and his brother who's running 102 degrees, I'm busting out some headlines.
Thanks, Mr. Leno - you're a lifesaver!


Let's start with some weddings, shall we?

Heh, heh. Swift Kalonic.

Ahhaaaahahahaaa!

Nothing like a good ol' Summer Blast

This group of people was asked if they thought dog fighting should be outlawed. I bet all the neighborhood dogs turn tail and run when they see Mr. Pettiford coming!

I would report trouble, too.

Just pull up and toot!

"Run children! Herb's in a 'lasting impressions' mood again!"

For use on all your pesky Aunts...

I'll put it on my to-do list...

Whaaaaa?

Them FEMA folk are so smart!

Here's a hearing-Aid ad:

I wish our neighbor would take care of his squirrel. Darn thing's always barking.

Your Sleep Questions Answered

The Lewis brothers are here today, answering your sleep questions. Although on any given night one or more of them may not prove adept in this area, most nights will find them all soundly tucked in and snoring away. So, lets go to our experts with audience questions:

Q: Does the jarred Turkey & Rice baby food I purchase for my baby contain Tryptophan, the chemical that causes lethargy after Thanksgiving dinner?

A: Yes. Yes it does.


Q: Is it possible to keep your ultra cool hip-hop persona while sleeping?

A: Oh, yeah.



Q: Is it possible to actually fall asleep during a slap fight?

A: If both participants have equal stamina and strength of will, both the nighttime slap fight and it's counterpart, the pillow fight, can endure into the wee hours with the below result:



...Let's take a closer look at this phenomena:





Q: Should I spend an exurbanite amount of money on top quality designer pillows?

A: No, invest in a quality brother, instead. They'll last forever.

Only the Best Toys for our State Certified Foster Home!

Do you remember that Sesame Street tune that went, "One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong...."
Well, all you Where's Waldo fans, try to spot the dead, verminous Waldo in this pic.
We had moved the couch to find a wayward toy and found an assortment of.....items.

Yes, there with the action figures, hot wheels and...shutter.... a binky, is Mr. Mouse. I'm assuming Furgus brought him inside one night. The brave little guy must have run the gauntlet to die in the relative peace of , well, anywhere but clamped between a cat's jaws, really.

Rest in peace, little guy. Thank you for dying close to the wall where the baby couldn't reach under and retrieve you. That was a good call.

Nobody wants to be eaten twice.

The "No Yell" age

So. I'm tidying up in the front room this morning as the kids are breakfasting. Micah is having a bit of trouble getting out of bed because of a late bedtime last night. The phone rings.
Me: "Hello?"
Caller: "Hey."
Me: "Uh...hi."
Caller: "Could you put the coffee on now?"
Me: "Seriously? You're calling me from the bedroom that's, like, 12 feet away?"
Caller: "Yup. Didn't feel like yelling."
Me: "OoooKaaay. I'll put the coffee on."
Caller: "Thanks, Babe."

08-09 School Year

Well, we have officially enrolled both Solomon and Malachi in Connections Academy. Several families in my home school co-op have tried this online charter school, with varying degrees of satisfaction. Complaints have been:

* Public school system being "all up your business".


* Rigid scheduling.


* The idea that your child has a teacher other than the parent. Said teacher calls the student regularly by phone, grades all his work and issues a report card. Parent is only the "learning coach".


* "Learning Coach" must teach the provided curriculum. God-centered curriculum obviously is not offered. Science textbooks will not give credit where credit's due with regards to the wonderful universe Father God created. I'm assuming intelligent design will not even be broached.



* No skipping assignments/sections at which the child is already proficient.



Why we decided to give it a go?



* Free! It's an extension of the public school system and thus tuition free.



* Lesson plans are all scheduled for you in a year-long virtual syllabus. If your kid is sick, or you want to school 6 days per week and finish the school year early, you just enter it in and the whole year's schedule will compensate. Every day's lessons are laid out for you on the schedule your child signs onto every morning.



* It's accredited.



* It's free!



* Lessons are sent with everything you need. If your Kindergarten studies for the day cover ladybugs, your kit for the day may include: A cute ladybug book, writing paper for writing a sentence about ladybugs, 6 pipe cleaners, 6 fleece dots, red construction paper, a tube of red glitter glue and a pair of googly eyes for making a ladybug craft. Also, the kid logs onto his schedule for the day and there's a link that downloads a short video lesson on ladybugs produced by the Discovery Chanel or Encarta.

* The electives are awesome. Solomon can take Spanish, Chess, Art, Sign Language, French and there's some others, as well. Chess includes real-time games with other Connections students across the U.S. who are matched up by skill level.

* Connections keeps you apprised of the field trips being scheduled by local public schools. If you're interested in going, you can meet the group at the location and participate.

* It's Free!

We'll keep you posted on how we like it... I guess we start at the end of the month.