Catch up time

A lot has happened in the first couple of months of this year. I really need to at least update this every month.

Lets see if I can get everything in order LOL. My mom is all move out of the house and she and Sharron are living in seniors housing. Very weird to think of my mom as a senior, which she is not, yet but they made an exception and placed her there. She will be considered a "senior" in a couple more years. Bill is doing everything he can to trash my  mom's name in Taber. What is it with controlling men and this need to make others out to be something they are not. Oh hold it I answered that, he is CONTROLLING. Mom is doing the same thing I did about my ex, nothing. This is the time you tend to find out who your TRUE friends are. I refused to answer any allegations my ex made about me and my mom is doing the same. One, whats the point, people will believe what they want to believe, no matter what you say. And two, it takes up to much time and energy. Alberta Mental Health is watching her and providing a ton of counseling so she can deal with all the crap in her life and get to a much stronger healthier mental mind set. I am very grateful to them for this as she refuses to move to Lethbridge so I can be closer to help out if need be. She has a very strong support group out there both professionally and friend wise. She has met some new great people at the apartment complex she is in and is getting out with a small group of women who's sole purpose is to learn to have fun, which she is enjoying. I am very happy to see and hear that she is getting to a health point in her life and that she has people who really care about her.

January we also complete all steps required to have my nephews placed here. All that was need now was a sit down chat with Child Services to go over the boys needs and for us to decied if we could provide for them. By this time the boys had not seen any family other then their sister since July. I am sure they were feeling abanded and angry. With that in mind I full expected there to be some agression and acting out. We got the call towards the end of January for a meeting and were informed that the boys needed to be placed asap because the foster home their were in could no longer have them there. We sat down on a Tuesday to discuss my nephews, their needs and wether to place them here or not. Now due to Privecy laws I can not share with you all that was said. Here are a few facts that are comenly known... They were originaly placed with my mom and stepdad, who could give them one hundred percent of their time. There were no other children in the home and both parents were also at home. My mom spent all her time with them and raised them for 3 years until they were removed and placed in a foster home. That being said one of the assements for a professional stated these boys need that kind of enviorment again. Now the boys are school age so the adults in the home can work but there can be no other children in the home because they need one on one care. I have 4 kids not going to happen, but that was not the red flag. Then we were informed about other assessments done, we knew about some of them, they are ADHD but it was everything else that I can't share. All I can say is we could not put our children at risk and it would not be just my little girls that would be at risk but possible my 2 teens as well. That was the kicker plus the fact I run a dayhome and that would mean put other family's children at risk. Well we took the 24 hrs to decied like they asked but had already had a disscussion and decission with in 15 minutes of them leaving. We would love to help those boys out and know that we could give them a better start to life then they have had but our family comes first. We told Child Services that right from the start that we want to help but our family, marriage needs to come before the boys. Now the only info I have is the boys are being placed into foster-to-adopt program to find them a perment home, which they are so desperatly in need of. All I can do is pray that this happens for them. As of right now we are out of the loop and have no say or info about my nephews. What I want to do is make a family album for them with pictures and info so they know that we are out there and if they ever want to make contact they can. My mom has the pics and that is the next goal for her once I get her taxes done.

Well that brings up mostly to the present my next post should more positive, Thanks for reading and may God hold you in the Palm of His Hand. God Bless.

New Year's Eve

Tonight should be a lot of fun. Shaun and family are coming over, so is Mark and we are doing a Murder Mystery Dinner/Evening. Shaun is all excited about it, Tyler kind of meh and so is Michaela. The theme is a Hawaii Luau. Going shopping with Carly for decorations, food and costumes. Already planned to have a glazed ham, and cheese potatoes for supper now need to pick up snack foods and things for the chocolate fondue. We will also be playing different board games tonight and Shaun is planning on making cocktails both real and virgin. We are short on player but as the hostess I will make sure the info for him gets read, if all goes well we are already planning to do one next year, with a gangsta theme from the dirty 30s LOL.

On another note, we are still working on getting the boys here. Home review done, now to get down to the police station to fill out police record checks and meet with the assessment team and hash out a timeline/plan how integrating them into our home. Maybe by Spring they will be living here but you never know Social Services works at a crawl.

My mom and Bill have separated and looks like a divorce is in the future. I use this a form of journal but due to the fact it is online for anyone to see I wont go into details at this time. The reason for the is that certain things are playing out in Court and tell there is a ruling I don't want to jeopardize anything.

I would like to wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year. A year of new experiences, new joys and lots of family and friends. I wish I could give you all a big hug and let you know how much I appreciate you. I heard something the other day and the way it was explained gave it new meaning to me. Here it is.... Live everyday like it is the first day of your life, because it is. Every day we wake up to a brand new day of experiences and joys, don't look back on the past but learn from it, always look forward. You never know if that day will not only be a new day but your last! So live life to the fullest, make sure your loved ones know that you love them by telling them. Help others, and smile you might be the only one that does that for them today. Smiles are contagious and they brighten every ones day. Enjoy the little things, a bird singing or the white moon, and don't sweat the small stuff, its not worth it. Looking forward to many more days and years to come and for me to try to write more on my family blog, I will strive for it!

Changes

Life can certainly through you some curve balls. I have been dealing with some extended family issue which I will not go it to here. Lets just say that it will/can effect our family and possible plans to have the boys here. Wont know more until we hear from Social Services or maybe even tomorrow when we talk to the Home Assessment worker.

On another note, my mom is giving us bunk beds, a larger kitchen table, dresser and car seats for the boys plus all their clothes. This will take pressure off us to purchase these things and make budget planning little easier. If the boys don't come to stay here the bunk beds come apart and the girls will have their own beds so win/win either way.

This is my second week working weeknights and I forgot how SLOW Mondays and Wednesdays can be. I know things will pick up after the 15 so just need to keep myself busy at work until then. Gives me lots of time to think of presents for the kids and Tyler. Been talking with ppl about the RC helicopter Tyler wants and trying to figure out which one to get him. He actually is the easy one this year as are the teens, Veronica and Cara are different stories LOL. Well I should sign off and head to bed 5:30am arrives early LOL.

The craziness of the past couple of months

It is now November and we are still working on getting the boys here. What a long process and sometimes very discouraging. The girls are still in their own rooms until we find out a possible time for when the boys are coming and then I will start transitioning them into one room. We have not seen them since early July, their birthdays have past with no family and it looks like Christmas too will be an event without family. I am sure they are feeling unloved right now, all I can do is push that we want to see them and see if my requests are answered.
I start Christmas hours at the mall, so my days will get to be very long. I have a full day home, so up at 5:30am to make sure the teens are up and getting ready for their day. Check email, play some FB games, read and try to write my Blogs, Dress and shower around 6:30, day home children start to arrive at 7:30am, Lunch and nap at noon, then they leave by 5pm. Dress for work at Cleo and head to work for 5:30 until 9:15pm home and hopefully to bed by 10:30pm rinse and repeat every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until Christmas. I might even be working Christmas Eve.
Now on top of that, this week I have to finish a couple of craft products to submit to a Design Team call. Have everything out I think I want to use, have to do to Layouts, a card and an altered item. I am super excited but also scared. It would be great to be selected over everyone else and to work with a great company and have their products for free for a year LOL, but it means I will have to step up my abilities and there will be deadlines of course.
Any how it is time for me to sign off and go take care of my family before all the craziness starts for the day. Take care everyone.

September

First month of school done, weather is starting to get cooler, actually had to turn on the heat one morning. All the trees are turning yellow then brown, I miss the orange and reds that meant fall out east. We just don't have the right type of trees here in Southern Alberta. Now if we went to Waterton or up North past Red Deer then I am sure we would see some real fall colours. Fall use to be my favourite time of year, crisp cool mornings, beautiful colours on the trees, crunchy leaves to step on and of course Halloween. Now that I am an adult and parent I can honestly say that Halloween is just not that much fun unless you are a kid.  I don't dress up, I don't go to party's, I don't get candy, I do get to go trick-or-treating with my littlest 2 girls. Veronica wants to be a dragon this year and Cara, I think, will be dressed as a bee. Need to get to Old Navy to pick up their customs this year. I cant wait to take a bunch of pictures and make LOs. Plus we are scheduling a family photo  to be taken. I am hoping to have one done every couple of years. It took me almost 4 years to talk Tyler into one because he hates having his picture taken.
Veronica is pretty much potty trained just struggling with the whole poop on the toilet thing but otherwise done. Cara has decided she wants to use the potty to so we sit her on there a couple times a day. Some times she uses it other times she just wants to sit there LOL. But that is a good start with a nonverbal child.
The Dayhome is finally full 3 days a week, I could take on a part time child for Thursdays and Fridays but its nice to have a slower couple of days before the weekend.
Weekends are hopefully going to start slowing down, all the girls are back from summer holidays and are back to work at Cleo which means I get my Saturdays back. I love working at Cleo with Amy and everyone but I miss being home on Saturdays and helping to get the cleaning done so we can do something fun in the afternoon. Plus I can make my big meals again. It was great a couple of weeks ago, had Shaun and Mark over and cooked glazed ham, country style potatoes, carrots. Then last week end had them over again and Liz, Aaron and Amelia, so had Chicken pot pie, Cesar salad and Apple pie with ice cream. Not sure what to cook for tomorrow as we always have Shaun and Mark over on Saturdays.
Have Thanksgiving planned and mostly bought for. Still need to get a turkey but was unable to find one at the places I shop yesterday. Shaun, Mark and Cathy will be here for sure, waiting to find out if my mom and stepdad are joining us. Turkey, homemade buns, mashed potatoes, yams, carrots, homemade stuffing, cranberry sauce, a couple of pumpkin pies, lemon merquine pie and I have not decided yet if I will make broccoli and cheese sauce. I love Thanksgiving and cooking for people. If I could I would entertain more. I now have the house for it and a nice large kitchen just don't have enough places for people to sit and eat.
This weekend is General Conference, I will be unable to watch it Saturday due to Fostercare training but I will be able to see it later online. I love technology it has made my life much easier, sometimes I look at things and wonder how did I ever get by with out such and such. I can keep track of friends across the world, meet people from all over the world, see shows that I missed, listen to music before I buy it, able to share pictures with family no matter were they are. Talk to and see family via skype in real time. It is a great blessing. Well on that note God Bless you all and have a most wonderful weekend with your friends and families!

9/11

It dawned a warm and sunny day. The first thing I did was check on CTV news to see about a little boy was finally safe at home after being abducted on Tuesday. Was glad to see that sometime around 3am he was returned to his home. It was a wonderful start to a day that holds terrible memories for much of North America. Next up was switching on the TV to CNN to watch the 10th anniversary specials of 9/11. Glad I did not wear any makeup to Church as I spent most of the morning before leaving crying. The specials, dedications, and documentaries on yesterday were very moving. It is one of those days in history that if you lived through you will always be able to say where and what you were doing when the news hit of such tragedy.
Learn about some forgotten heroes yesterday, those boat operators that helped to evacuate survivers from downtown Manhattan. They were amazing and it was incredible to see the footage of them answering the call by the Coast Guard to come and help. To hear from the children of the first responders, who are now 10, that never got to met their fathers due to the towers collapsing. My heart goes out to them, everyone has a right to know their parents and these children only know half. To hear of the continued health problems, mental, physical and emotional that is plaguing those who helped at ground zero broke my heart. After 10 years the death toll is still raising.
I stand side by side my American friends and cry with you. I know the healing is on going, please know that I salute your troops and first responders and this tragic day in history will not be forgotten. God bless America the home of the Brave and Free!

Waiting and Training

So the plan was to take the girls to Calgary this past weekend to visit with Grandma and Opa. This did not happen for several reasons. Wednesday the girls were exposed to Chicken Pox by a friend, his son did not show any systems until Tuesday when the spots appeared. We decide to expose them again Thursday and Saturday, Saturday being the day they come over to play games with us. I have had the Chicken Pox and so have the older two kids but we were unsure of Tyler. He called his mom and was informed yes he had them while young but not a good idea to visit them as they have their 2 grandsons for the next couple of weeks while their dad Guides. Neither of the boys have had the Chicken Pox and the grandparents cant stay home from work if they get sick. So now we wait 12-14 days to see if they get them and if not then we plan a visit. Now this is hard for Veronica because she has been asking to see them and doesn't understand why we cant go right now.
The other big news is we have become serious about potty training Veronica. She loves to go on the potty but refuses to tell us when. Tyler and I talked about different solutions to this and decided to pick up a kitchen timer. Every time it goes off she goes on the potty. It worked really well for 2 days then on the third day nothing but accidents. Tyler was ready to give up because "she just doesn't understand" but I encourage him that we just need to be consistent in what we are doing and she will eventually get there. Yesterday we went and had her choose some real panties, she was very excited to do this and could not wait to get home to put them one. No accidents again so here is fingers cross that this continues. She really hates making a mess and getting all wet and I think that is what will finally do it. Pull ups are great but they don't teach the kids anything even with that "cool zone" when they wet themselves. Now the big one is to get her to poop on the toilet all the time too and then we will pretty much be done!
Michaela and Fred start seminary this morning. What a crazy mess that is. Both of them are in the morning and trying to figure out rides is a nightmare. Finally by 10pm last night everything was a go and they are up bright and early, 5:30, to get ready for their day. I too am up at that time otherwise it would be nothing but fighting and arguing and I really would like the 2 girls to stay asleep until 7am. It is the perfect time for me to do all my computer errands and read/right blogs. Have a great day everyone its going to be a hot week.