Smith and Foster

Our House

2012-02-11T20:52:00.000-05:00

We listed our house on Tuesday. Had 1 showing Thursday, 3 showings on Friday, and have 1 scheduled for next Tuesday. Oh, and we just got a call from our realtor with an offer from the first viewers.

Yippee!

I pretended to be the realtor so that I could take some pictures with my new camera so I'll show you. And no we do not live like this. I had to do major room rearranging and rent 2 storage units for the overflow,ie home school and office stuff.

That's our house on the left and our detached garage on the right. Our property runs from the road on the left to the big, ugly bushes behind the swing set on the right. A little over an acre.

Coats, backpacks and shoes. Oh my!

2012-01-03T21:55:00.000-05:00

This is my front hall closet

Uggg! I've rearranged it several times and it works for a while and then this. The cubbies are for shoes. Every shoe people 11 and under own are in their color cubbie. I have 2 in preschool, 5 in public elementary school, 2 homeschool and 2 in public high school. That's a lot of backpacks and coats. I did have the cubbies side by side, but I can't put the hooks up too high or the littles can't reach to hang stuff up. If we move to the house I want, we will have great space for a true mudroom. Until then I'll keep rearranging.

Let's go to the movies

2012-01-02T22:36:00.000-05:00

Mr Smith and I took 10 kids to the movies tonight. Twelve drinks, six popcorns and $160 later we watched the Chipmunks. It wasn't nearly as bad as I was prepared to endure. We kinda sorta not really started a tradition last year where on your birthday you got to pick your favorite meal and go to the movies. With bdays all but 2 months of the year and some months having multiples, it was just to expensive to go out to eat at a sit down place plus gifts. Well, I don't think we went to the movies at all. So I decided to amend the tradition so that during Christmas break we will all go together. Our last bday is in December so it works out.

Kelly at http://nomoremoves.blogspot.com/ is going to post a picture a day for the year 2012. I told her I would try. This picture was taken on New Year's Eve, but I don't have any taken in 2012 yet so it will have to do!

This is Perry. We found him wandering down the street a couple months ago. We were out of town and he just appeared. He got outside one evening right before Thanksgiving when we were leaving for our homeschool co-op's fall program. When we got home he wasn't walking on his back leg. We took him to the vet and he had been bitten on the thigh pretty badly. He still wasn't walking on it at Christmas, so we took him back to the vet. Since he was so young and was favoring his leg while it healed, it has basically healed kind of bent. Poor little guy.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T21:09:00.000-05:00

How is everyone? I don't know why I can't keep this thing going. I enjoy reading other blogs, but for some reason when it comes to my own I stink.

Miss I will hopefully be adopted this month. We are just waiting on a court date.

We finally got our tax refund in November! We are debt free except for our mortgage:) Yippee!!

I have found a house that would totally work for our family with the addition of a great room and other minor updating. Now if I can get Mr. Smith to come to the same conclusion, oh and sell our house, we're good.

I got a fancy schmancy new camera for Christmas and it is super easy to upload pictures. So maybe I will post more often since I will be able to add pics.

Here is one I took just playing around-

This is my youngest bio-E-age 6.

This is my oldest bio at home-A-age 16-all dressed up for the New Year's Eve Ball.

Hope to blog at you again soon!

Catch up

2011-07-08T19:34:00.000-04:00

Hey all, long time no blog. Here's what has been happening in our neck of the woods!

*TPR hearing in April. Dad signed. The judge almost tried to talk mom out of it, but she stuck with her decision.

*Hello/Goodbye visit with dad. The jail allowed 30 minutes. We were in and out and on the way home in 15.

*Goodbye visit with mom. She asked to see all the kids and I agreed. I was soooo nervous. We didn't tell the kids until an hour before. It went very well. They basically acted like they didn't know her and for the youngest 2 that was true.

*Bio mom said at that visit she was heading south so that they wouldn't take the baby due in August. 5 weeks after the visit she is in jail. She's out now. They don't like to keep preggo chicks in the slammer around here.

*I have decided I am homeschooling 2, maybe 3 of my kidlings. I've been collecting stuff and researching a lot.

*Still waiting on our tax refund. Got another letter 2 weeks ago for more info. AAHHHH!!!

*Almost positive we are going to stay here and add on. Unless something perfect comes on the market...

*We got 2 kittens. My sister lives in the boonies and one of the stray cats had babies. She accidentally ran over one and another one was up in her hood and fell out on the way to work. I saved the last 2. They have been through a lot of names, but we settled on Phineas and Ferb.

*Someone didn't save a message on the answering machine as new, so I missed a call for a placement. Now the law has changed to 5 total kids except in special situations, so I'll probably only get called if bio mom screws up with the new one due in August.

There's been a million other things too, but that's the biggies.

Summer Sale!

2011-05-09T19:02:00.000-04:00

http://www.mythirtyone.com/31susansmith/

Visit my website at 8:01 EDT tomorrow night for great deals at 31% off!

Tote-Ally Awesome Beach Tote in Chains Ahoy $33.81

Wristlet Wallet in Chains Ahoy $15.18

Wristlet Key Fob in Chains Ahoy $3.45

...About Town Blanket in Floral Celebration $26.91

Icon Coin Purse in Chains Ahoy $9.66

manners

2011-04-03T21:57:00.000-04:00

Went to Ponderosa today for lunch. It was packed! The table next to us had 2 "older" couples. As they were leaving, one of the men came over and said he just had to compliment us on how well behaved our kids were. Cha-ching! I love moments like this. People see 12 kids come in and expect the worse, I love surprising them! Make a momma proud :)

It's gone...

2011-03-28T22:54:00.000-04:00

the new house. We had a realtor scheduled to come to our house Wednesday to suggest a list price. Based on that we were going to make our offer. Sent a text to our realtor to bring some extra info on the new house and he replied,"jus advised 2day ______ seller accepted an offer ovr the wknd." AAHHH!!! There is nothing in our price range with enough space so we are back to square one.

What could I do with this?

2011-03-19T22:59:00.001-04:00

The counters? The green tile? The paper?

We have been looking for a house kinda-sorta for a while. We are busting at the seams and it's only going to get worse as the kids get older(bigger). Plus the littlest Foster (soon to be Smith) is in my room. Anywho, we found a house that has plenty of room, but was way out of our price range and was, well... designed and decorated by someone who does not share my vision of simplicity.

Remove the chandy, peel the paper and paint!

See what I mean?

We basically marked it off our list and moved on. Well, my realtor/friend texts today that they lowered the price by $40k. Still out of our range. But another house with 1,000 more sq ft and 3 acres went for $50k below that price, well... we're reconsidering coming in with a low ball offer. The house has sat on the market for 800 days.

Most rooms are a simple peel the wallpaper and paint. And remove the light fixture... Except for the kitchen. It's quite busy. I will live with it of course if it becomes a reality, but I'm hoping a few cosmetic changes can make a difference because check out the back of the house. Awesome!

Definitely not simple! But gorgeous!

Crickets

2011-03-07T14:18:00.000-05:00

I don't like crickets in my hair!

This morning started out like any other morning. Boys on the bus, littles dressed, time to fix hair for preschool. One purple pretty, one black hair bow and one nit. Wait, no it can't be it's just a fuzzy. Whew! Part hair on other side and it's not another fuzzy. Of course this was not on the head of my super thin blond headed child. No, on the head of my super thick reddish-brownish-blondish headed child! We don't use the l-word around here, this condition is referred to as "critters". Well Miss E thought I said crickets. So when we go through the preschool drop off line she tells her teacher she won't be at school today because she has crickets.

Respite

2011-02-24T23:11:00.000-05:00

I talked with the foster mom of the kiddos I am supposed to have for respite next week. An aunt and uncle have been cleared for placement, however they only want the 2 boys. I am all for keeping siblings together when possible and if it is in their best interest. In this case, I think it should be done. These 2 boys are sooooo under socialized. The foster mom said they need a lot of help. She also said they don't even acknowledge the baby. The caseworker said this will be a long term placement at least. Mom and dad are currently homeless. The other couple were told to give them the boot, clean up the trailer and they would get their kids back. I believe they went home today.

If the boys are placed with relatives, I will still have the baby for 4 days. I think I'm going to get out the Mobi wrap. What a treat that will be for both of us. Her because she sat in a carseat for 4 months and me because I love the snuggles!

Dad Visit-Update

2011-02-23T23:24:00.000-05:00

No, it's not Friday already. Caseworker called today to tell me the visit is cancelled. Apparently dad got in a fight at work and left. Then he decided to get drunk. Hmmmm, that didn't go over too well at work release, so he's back in jail. This all happened after he and caseworker had a lengthy phone conversation about how he was going to get his daughter, move out of state and live a Christian life.

Paternal grandma has now decided she wants the baby and what does she have to do to get her. She has already been banned from visits because she tested positive for m*th. Supervised visits could not even be at her house unless she was gone (mom was living with her). Well, of course the dr*gs were all mom not her. Hopefully no means no means no.

Dad visits

2011-02-22T15:06:00.000-05:00

Got the call today that dad will have his first visit on Friday for an hour. What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall during that hour. This will be the first time he has seen her. I don't know, maybe that's all he wants and then he will sign. I don't see him jumping through hoops to get her and he is in or is it on work release for an undetermined time. He has basically been in jail her entire life both on the inside and outside. I'm a little nervous.

I told a fellow foster parent I would do respite for her next week. It is also a trial run to see if I could handle keeping them. There are 3 ages 4,3, and 4 months. They were just removed last week. No drugs, no abuse, just severe neglect. She said she met the parents when she dropped off the kids for a visit and it looked like the dad had just crawled out from under a rock. She said there seems to be some mental issues. These are the cases that break my heart, these parents love their kids but do not know how to care for them. I don't know if parenting classes will help. We'll see.

1/2 way there

2011-02-14T23:18:00.000-05:00

Friday the 11th was the date for TPR filing. Visit the day before was cancelled. I didn't think anything about it, visits have been cancelled before. I got a call Friday afternoon with the news that mom was coming in Monday to sign voluntary TPR paperwork. Huh? She has said all along she was going to fight for this one. She can handle just one. Well apparently she's back on the m*th wagon.

I had MOPS this morning so I called the caseworker to leave a message to ask her to call me on my cell after the signing. She said she wasn't sure it was going to happen. Mom had been texting back and forth with her "parent helper" about how it's not her decision, but "they" are going to take her anyway, blah, blah, blah. She (caseworker) had called the attorney twice to tell her not to come, now come...

Anywho, she signed! The caseworker said she slammed in and out in 5 seconds. They had to drag her back to date it!

Now on to dad. He is on work release for who knows how long. Just got out of jail a few weeks ago. He contacted the caseworker once and when she returned the call she left a message with her cell number so he could call in the evening after work. That's been over a week ago and he's not called her. This man has NEVER seen his daughter. He was unavailable when she was born so paternity was not established. By the time it was he was already unavailable again. We'll see.

Spring Break

2011-02-03T20:21:00.000-05:00

This was at a play place in San Antonio, TX. We went there last year for spring break. It had this castle, a pirate ship, monster truck, giant wooden swing set, bouncy house and a toddler area. They let us bring in our own food and drinks. The kids had a blast!

Snow Day

2011-01-20T19:55:00.000-05:00

And they've already called school off tomorrow. I love knowing the night before instead of the dreaded call in the wee hours that for some reason always causes me to have trouble returning to sleep.

We had our Team Meeting today. I was proud of the caseworker. She let mom know that they are going to file for TPR. Mom had excuses for her excuses. "I didn't quit my job, I lost it when I went to jail!" Hello!? She seems to think that doing the stuff she does is separate from her being a parent. She made the point that she didn't have I with her when she was arrested at the time of removal. Just because you left her with the neighbor doesn't make it right. Anywho, the meeting came to an end when mom stormed out of the building. I of course ran after her and stood in the snow for 10 minutes or so trying to make some sense of the situation with her. She really likes me so I have to be super careful of what I say. I think she will sign the papers. I don't see her dragging this out when she knows the cards are stacked against her. She admitted that she is in no better place than what she was 6 months ago and doesn't know how long she needs to get her act together. Although she was sure to share that she got a new job. At a bar/restaurant. Bar tending. On Friday and Saturday nights. And she's an alcoholic.

Positive

2011-01-15T19:59:00.000-05:00

Yeah, that's what mom tested this week. So visits will reduce from 2 a week to 1 a week. Two whole hours. And remember she's pregnant. I called the case manager to see if anything could be done about it, since she is on probation in 2 states. The CM is not able to relay the specific info without mom's permission but, she can call and tell them they may want to test her.

We have a team meeting next week. The CM is going to put the hammer down because she will be filing for termination the first of February. I hope we get mom in a mood where she will just sign away rights. She really has no leg to stand on if she were to fight it in court. We'll see.

Snow Day

2011-01-11T21:50:00.000-05:00

Call at 6:00 for 2 hour delay. Call at 7:00 for cancellation. Already called for tomorrow is a 2 hour delay.

M and I took my sister, mom and nephew to the doctor today. They both have small, low to the ground cars and were afraid to get stuck. We took The Beast

and although we slid a few times, we never got stuck. Nephew has an ear infection and high temp. Hopefully antibiotics will do the trick.

Straight from the horses mouth

2011-01-07T23:49:00.000-05:00

I picked up the baby from her supervised visit today because I was out and about. She was sitting in her carseat on the floor with mom standing near her. She gave me the news herself. I was also told that I(6 months) had slept the whole visit, which are her favorite. What?! My 13 year old even said that if she had to do visits with her kids she would wake them up. Hmmm.

I called the caseworker to see if she knew and she did. I asked her about TPR and she said it will be filed in February. On both parents. Dad has never even seen her since he was incarcerated when she was born and was re-incarcerated shortly after she was removed.

We"ll see...

Thirty-One

2011-01-06T21:02:00.000-05:00

I recently became an independent consultant for Thirty-One. The products are so cute and affordable.

I have one of these for baby I as a diaper bag.You can check out the rest of our awesome products at my website http://www.mythirtyone.com/31susansmith/

The name of the company is taken from Proverbs 31.

I will never understand

2011-01-05T14:11:00.000-05:00

BioMom of my adopted seven and foster babe and one other that was adopted out is pregnant again!!! I(6months) has been with us since she was 11 days old. Mom only has until Feb. to get it together or termination will be filed. The only thing she has done is come to visits and for 1/2 of those she was picked up and dropped off. She has always bragged that "I can always have more". She likes me so I have never told her howI feel about the situation. She "requested" me when they removed the baby. I guess we'll have to keep our license current for this next one.

Summer score!

2011-01-04T00:30:00.000-05:00

I ran into Wally World tonight to grab a few things and noticed a $3 rack in the boys section. I grabbed reversible shorts and short/shirt outfits. Most were the Starter brand. Not quite as cheap as yard sales, but since I don't yard sale that's a pretty good price.

Back to School

2011-01-03T01:17:00.000-05:00

After 2 weeks off and 3 snow days the week before that, the kiddos are back tomorrow. Mr. Smith returns to work and the girls are back to preschool.That just leaves G(2) and I(6 months) home with me. I have plenty to do. Our washer broke last week and Mr. Smith went to the laundry mat today. There are about 9 baskets waiting to be put away.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T14:33:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday!

2010-01-18T14:49:00.001-05:00

This time to A. He is 15 today.

A's life in a nutshell-he started walking and talking at 10 months and has not slowed down or shut up yet!

He is a klutz. He has broken, sprained, injured more body parts than the rest of us combined.

He is a dork. He will put on a bathrobe and perform an impromptu clown show for his little sister's birthday.

He is sensitive. He (just like his mom) will cry at the drop of a hat.

Happy Birthday!

What's a mother to do?

2010-01-08T22:57:00.000-05:00

*Update*
It's geting smaller, although still a very hard knot. The bruises are now a lovely shade of yellow.

These are pictures of E's arm. She came to me Monday and said her arm hurt. I looked and didn't see anything. So I felt it and there was a small knot.

These pictures are from this evening. The top one doesn't show very well, but the bruise extends to my fingers. It is now bruised, swollen and the knot is about 3 times the size as it was Monday. I of course went to the medical team of Friends on Facebook and the overwhelming diagnosis was-get her to the doctor.

I drew a line around it with a pen like someone suggested to monitor the growth. I'll probably take her to the ER tomorrow. I just hate being the mom that calls in panic, "My child has a 103 fever can you get us in?" Then you get to the office and their fever is normal and they are bouncing off the wall.

Happy Birthday

2010-01-06T22:58:00.000-05:00

My first born is 18 today. Wow.

You see, I was 19 and not married when B was born. I moved 90 miles away to live with B's dad not telling my parents why. My mom came to visit in Nov. and I spilled the beans. She kind of figured something was going on because until the moment I moved out, I had a pretty good head on my shoulders.

B was born at 6:36 am weighing 9 pounds 1 ounce. His dad actually shed a tear at that moment. Of course later that day my dad had to go get him at our apartment and make him come back to the hospital. It was fun playing house for a while, like 2 months after B was born, but by then the honeymoon we never even had, was over. I moved back home with my parents.

I am so thankful that my parents welcomed us back with open arms. My dad has 2 daughters so B was his sidekick. Best buds. B's dad visited often enough, but we called it quits shortly after I moved home. That is when the walls came tumbling down.

From that point on B's dad was determined to make my life miserable. Anything and everything I did with B, he did the opposite. Car seat-nah, guns in the house-tons of 'em, eating regular food-why not pop and candy?

This went on for years. B was a mess. He developed anxiety and was depressed. He was also diagnosed with ADHD. Medicine was a great help, except you guessed it, when he was with dad he didn't take it. Somehow I became the bad guy in all of this.

When B was in the 4th grade I hit pay dirt. After years of court battles, I finally found a judge that would make B's dad give him his meds. He was supposed to call me each time. Well, the first time I received a COLLECT call from dad I about jumped through the phone! Eventually his lack of follow through caught up with him and the judge put him in jail for 30 days. That day of court I got another collect call from him, this time asking me to get him out. After all it was my fault he was in there. He actually traded his parental rights for a get out of free jail card. I was married to Mr. Smith by this time and he ended up adopting B.

As it is today, B is on probation, failing school and living with my parents. It is not safe for the rest of us to have him live here. My parents want him gone because of his complete lack of respect for them and their home. I don't know what is going to happen.

This is not the life I imagined for my firstborn son.

Devotions for a new year

2010-01-05T21:44:00.000-05:00

This is our new nightly devotional book. So far, so good. I was doing a different book,but we went through all of the discussion devos and were left with activity devos. Sorry, but I am not dragging out the scissors and glue at bedtime.

This book includes short "sticky situations", thus the title, multiple choice answers and a scripture to look up together. There are also questions that make you think more. Tonight's situation was about breaking the rules your parents have made even when they are not around. Colossians 3:20 "Children obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord." Now that's my kind of scripture-short, sweet and to the point.

The last book included a prayer that went along with the devo, this one makes you do your own. I know I am a prayer chicken so it is good for all of us. We are taking turns each night saying a prayer. Tonight the eldest of the newly adopted had his turn and one of the things he said he was thankful for was the family God gave him. Melt my heart!

Liar,Liar

2010-01-02T22:20:00.000-05:00

This evening I cleared off the top of the fridge. I found a box of Little Debbie Christmas tree brownies with 3 left. I thought that would make a good snack later and left it on the counter. Two hours later the box is empty and I didn't eat any or give permission to anyone else to eat one. Hmmmmmm. There are 3 possible culprits and really just one. He was alone downstairs and the wrappers were found under the couch cushions where he was sitting. All 3 are currently sitting at the dining room table where they will remain until one of them cracks. This kind of stuff makes me fume. Steal the food off the counter and then lie to my face about it-not gonna happen.

2010

2010-01-01T22:15:00.000-05:00

Now that we are an "official" family I have a few goals for us.

-Debt reduction

-De-clutter

-Keep up with zones

-More family togetherness

-Happiness

That last one is the biggie. I have been so stressed with the fostering and Mr Smith working out of state, I need some happiness. I think all of those other things will fall into place with that as my main goal.

2009-12-29T20:04:00.000-05:00

It's official! I am now the mother of 15! Here are the 11 still at home.

Teeth

2009-11-20T15:14:00.000-05:00

I've been having trouble with a broken tooth since July. Well, a few weeks ago it broke more so I had no choice but to go to the dentist. She recommended pulling it because there was too little left to do anything with. She also suggested pulling my 2 wisdom teeth and another tooth that had decay at the gum line. Sign me up. I had them all pulled on Monday and it was not as bad as I had feared. I took some pretty strong stuff both Monday and Tuesday so there was little pain, just soreness. I had to work in my friend's new store Wednesday and Thursday so I was just down to ibuprofen and Tylenol. I think I should have stayed home those 2 days. I'm really sore again today.

The License

2009-10-08T00:07:00.000-04:00

We started the process of becoming foster parents on a cold February morning. We made arrangements for our 6 kids to be with friends and family for 3 Saturdays. We arrive at the conference center and notice that the parking lot is empty. Hmmm. Were the classes supposed to start at 8:00 our time or their time? I called my mom and had her look up the number for the scheduling service and called. Of course being a Sat. morning no one answered. I called my mom again and had her look up the number for the caseworker in charge of foster parents. I think she was a bit surprised by my call. She didn't know anything since all classes are scheduled through this service group. My phone rang and it was the representative from the service. "Didn't anyone call you? The classes were cancelled because of low enrollment." Duh, do you think I would be sitting here freezing my rear if they had?

Now I'm thinking, is this my sign that I shouldn't be doing this? I've never had one of those moments that some have, where they hear God's voice telling them things. He knows I'm not a good listener. So I have decided that he shows me.

I called and scheduled us for classes in a city 5o miles away. When they didn't call to cancel, I took that as my sign to continue.

Both Mr Smith and I were a little leery of these "parenting classes". Good grief we were raising 6 kids, I think we know a little about parenting. Even my kids thought it was nuts. Surprisingly it was interesting.

After our classes, we filled out a thousand and one pages of "if a child in your care did this... how would you respond?" How the heck do I know? I don't like vague questions. So I just put what I knew they wanted to read or I wrote that I didn't know because until you are in the moment, you don't know.

We were licensed by May 1st. It was pushed through quickly because we already knew 2 kids in foster care we wanted to have placed with us for adoption. That is another story for another day.

Hello again!

2009-10-07T00:11:00.000-04:00

Long time no blog. I'm in awe of the moms of many who can blog on a regular basis. If I spent as much time posting as I do reading posts, this would be one hot blog!

Major happenings here in Smith and Foster land. I would like to tell the story of our life as a foster family because that will be ending soon.

Dunt, dunt, dunt... (you know-cliffhanger music).

Flashback

2009-05-30T16:44:00.000-04:00

I regularly read the blog A Soft Place to Land. On today's Linky Love, I found this. I commented that I made a million of these back in the 90's. I think every room in my first little house had a wreath to match. I cut my fabric into squares and sometimes didn't even cut just ripped. I also used a flat head screw driver to stuff the fabric. I may have to revisit this super easy craft.

A bunch of sickos

2009-04-20T00:03:00.000-04:00

that's us. Me, Mr Smith, and 4 Fosters on nebulizers. Oh and another Foster home since Thursday with fever and vomiting.

These 7 kids are the sickest kids I've ever met! You know what I mean. Friday marked the 6 month anniversary of the 4 littles placement and at least 1 of them has been sick to some degree since that day. I took the baby to the ER the day after they arrived. Am I missing something? I thought being in a better environment would decrease that. They all have runny noses, the 4 I mentioned above that cough &/or wheeze.

Any suggestions?

Works for Me Wednesday

2009-04-15T01:26:00.001-04:00

With a little trial and error, I've come up with at least one way to help control the chaos at dinnertime.

I try to use paper plates several times a week. I started just writing the names of the kids on each plate to keep track of everyone. This past weekend I added to that strategy. I add their selections as well.

For example, tonight's dinner is fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots and rolls. While preparing the food, I call each child to the kitchen (or have a big kid go around the house), tell them the choices and record it on the edge of the plate. Not only does it make a pretty border ;) but I don't have to try and remember 11 different menus.

Works for me!

PS
8 of the 11 are ages 8,7,6,4,3,3,2 and 1, not the best at carrying a plate full of hot food!

Happenings...

2009-04-13T23:11:00.000-04:00

It's been a rough few weeks.

March 23-3 new foster children placed-ages 6,7,8-all boys
March 30-wake up to find out 19 yr old daughter moved out in the middle of the night
April 5-17 year old son loses control-currently spending 20 days in a youth detention facility

That's the short version. There is much more to each story. I feel like the saying,"One step forward, two steps back" only it seems like ten steps back.

I've been praying about each of these situations long before they got to this point, I just have to keep the faith.

Don't ya just hate...

2009-04-04T13:47:00.001-04:00

those people who start a blog and then never update? Well, hate is a pretty strong word.

Supermom?

2009-02-21T13:09:00.000-05:00

I was going for the supermom look. Thanks,Jenni for the link.

Happy (almost) Anniversary

2009-02-14T18:21:00.000-05:00

Thank you Mr Smith for reading and following through with the previous post. They were delicious!

Mr Smith

2009-02-05T18:37:00.000-05:00

If you are reading...this looks good for my anniversary present!

She's baaaack...

2009-02-05T18:24:00.000-05:00

three visits in a row. What is up? I can't and never will be able to figure it out. It hurts my head to think about it.

Yesterday was V's 19th bday. We had church so we are going to go out for her bday dinner Sunday. Mr Smith will be home and since he's her dad and all we thought he might want to be here.

I am going crazy with the little whiners. It's not ok, but at least understandable when you get in trouble you whine. But to just whine, loudly I might add, for absolutely no reason at all, aaaahhhh!! I ordered and received 3 books to see if I could get any insight. I've read one and skimmed the others. No earth shattering revelations. I think I'm going to invest in some good earplugs and just let them whine it out. You know kind of like the cry it out theory, only let them whine it out. When you're done you can have, do, go, etc.

What's been going on...

2009-02-03T21:53:00.000-05:00

for the last 7 visits we have had 1 actual visit.She cancelled 2 and disappeared for the other 4. What in the world could be so important as to not see my children. I would walk to the office if that was the only way to get there.

I am praying for God's will to be done for these children. I also pray that if we are not the family for them, that we will stay strong and get through the rough times.

State of confusion

2009-01-26T17:52:00.000-05:00

I called the caseworker today to see if we were on the same plan as Friday for visits. Wait to see if she shows before the kids are picked up. Visits start at 3:30 and they have to wait 15 minutes before they can call it off. 4:oo comes and goes so I leave to pick up J from basketball and call the visit supervisor chick on the way. The conversation (please pretend I use my quotes and whatnots correctly:)

Me-"Hi,--- it's Susan. I guess no visit today?"

Her-"Yeah no visit, but she did call me today."

Me-"She did!?"

Her-"She said she had a lot of stuff to do today, but would visit Wed."

Me-"Did she have an excuse for the last 4 no shows?"

Her-"She told me and I've reported it to Mr Caseworker so if he wants to share it with you he can, but I can't."

Me-"That's fine. I did talk to Mr C today and he said if she was a no show or cancelled today he was taking action."

Her-"Oh, well, I don't know about that, so we'll see."

Now Mr C was supposed to "take action" after she continued to cancel visits, before she even stopped just showing up. He didn't. I'm worried he won't do anything this time either. Unless she had been kidnapped or in a coma, there is no excuse for not calling or showing up. I am so confused about this whole mess. Why remove children, set the guidelines for the parents to follow, not do anything when the parents don't follow said guidelines, and mess these kids up more than they already are.

The system is just a mess. Parents doing what they want while someone else takes care of and loves their children and just before the kids are given a chance at a permanent home, the parents cram in what is needed to complete the case plan and the system is fine with that.

Are you sleeping?

2009-01-24T23:03:00.000-05:00

Chances are if you're under the age of 5 at our house you're sleeping in a pack and play, toddler bed, twin mattress or twin mattress and box springs on the floor.

I did not want to spend a fortune on toddler beds and mattresses or on a trundle twin size bed. I found super cheap toddler beds on clearance on Kmart.com. Of course they were not available for shipping. I called our local store and they were out too. This was 3 weeks ago. I just happened to be in there today and guess what I found? Two of the clearance beds. $33 a piece! You can't beat that. I ran across the street to Wally World for mattresses since I could use V's discount card.

Total price for 2 toddler beds and mattresses-$146, price for waterproof pad-$5.50, having each child in their own real bed-priceless.

4 in a row

2009-01-23T16:30:00.000-05:00

Not me this time. Mom missed her 4th visit in a row with no show, no call. I did finally get them to wait to pick up the kids today until she showed. I've been having to wake them up from their naps for visits. The caseworker that is in charge of the visits said her supervisor is going to call the regular caseworker and ask him to suspend visits until Mom contacts the office. It's a lot of time and money being wasted for these no shows.

Speaking of nap time, it's a struggle around here. I'm sure like every other infant, toddler and preschooler, they all need it, but don't want it. Unless I sit in the room and even then, it takes a while before they settle down and go to sleep. Then we have almost 3yr old A who wakes up at least once during her nap and squalls. Which you can then be sure someone or someones else wakes up. I don't have 4 separate "safe" places to put them. Any suggestions?

I'm getting ready to leave and pick up Augustus from play practice. Then in an hour I'll have to take him to the ballgame for pep band.

One last thing, a friend's 20 year old daughter was diagnosed with cancer a few weeks ago. They have traveled to Texas for treatment. Chemo started this week. They are a long way from home. Please pray for them.

No Show

2009-01-19T19:39:00.000-05:00

Today mom missed her 2nd visit in a row. No show, no call. She missed last Friday, also. What's up? She's missed many visits before, but she's always called with an excuse.

Mr Smith and I did let the caseworker know that we are interested in adoption (if it comes to that). There are older siblings at another foster home and we would take all of them. The county must wait 6 months before filing for termination. Unless there is a big change in the next two months I think that's where it is headed. It would be hard to find a home for a sibling group of this size.

On a happier note, I got my wish of a delay this morning. Two hours instead of one!

Happy Birthday!

2009-01-18T19:57:00.000-05:00

This time to A. He's starting his second year of teenhood. He was born 3 years and 12 days after B. They both weighed 9lbs 1oz. This fact lead subsequent doctors to assure me I could handle any size baby. Grrrreat.

I often say that A started walking and talking at age 10 months and hasn't stopped either since then. He is full of energy and is a very sensitive boy. He will be playing the part of Augustus in the school's production of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory next month. If can picture that, you've got A.

I mentioned that Mr Smith was out of town during the week. His company took volunteers to travel to another plant for 6 months. At the end he will get a bonus. He comes home Fri. night and leaves Sun. afternoon. His time is up in March.

On yet another note, our pastor is preaching a 10 week series on the 10 Commandments. Kind of had to be 10 weeks! It has been eye opening for me. I kinda sorta knew the Commandments, but not like this. We only started attending this church 10 months ago and I am glad we made the change.

Here's to snow and hour delays (crossing fingers).

4 in a row

2009-01-16T15:29:00.000-05:00

That's how many days I've been up and at 'em. I mean once I get up, I stay up. It's not been too bad. We're almost on a ...schedule! All 5 took a nap today and at the same time.

Mr Smith comes home tonight. I hope I recognize him. He's been on the Nutrisystem for 2 weeks now. He told me when he left in Sept. that his new apt. had a weight room. I said you'll come back all butch and I won't recognize you. He said I hope you meant buff, not butch. Whoops!

Where has Mr Smith been since Sept.? I'll share that this weekend.

Church Night

2009-01-14T22:09:00.000-05:00

Our Wednesday night classes have returned!!!! We eat and then spread out to do all kinds of fun things.

Mainly it's adult time for me. After being stuck in a house with littles all day, my brain could use some stimulation.

Another foster mom and I got together to work on a plan. We would like to develop a system of gathering donations of gently used baby/kid items and then loaning them out to foster parents. In fostering you really don't know what you are going to get, unless you're super specific. Most people don't have the space to store everything from bottles to cribs.Can you think of a catchy name? I though of FIN-Fosters in Need with a cute little fish for a symbol. I know we can do better than that.

If anyone ever reads this and can come up with a cute name leave me a comment.

What a day

2009-01-13T12:29:00.000-05:00

Highlights of today so far
-got up at 6:50 and stayed up
-served the littles breakfast and lunch at appropriate times
-did 3 loads of laundry
-started dinner for tonight
-read Bible and devotions

Bloopers of the day (so far)
-started to make fritters for lunch-dishwasher did not clean skillet-did not feel like scraping dried on crud off
-turn on crock pot to start dinner-no cr. of mushroom soup-went to plan B
-tried to call and pay 2 bills-no answer

Not too bad of a start. Now if I can get the littles to nap after lunch, I've got it made.

What to do

2009-01-12T21:15:00.000-05:00

Mom cancelled another visit today. She had a flat tire. She'll run out of excuses sooner or later. Someone needs to point blank ask her if she wants her kids.

Mr Smith and I discussed it this weekend and we would take them for adoption.

These 7 kids are young enough for us to help make a difference in their lives. The 4 youngest already call me mommy and I doubt the baby knows her.

We'll just take it one day at a time, only the Lord knows the plan He has for us.

How do you spell relief?

2009-01-07T22:42:00.000-05:00

J (age 9) has had an issue with not being able to do #2. So tonight we bought her some ex lax. She fell asleep. I was in my room on the computer when I heard the bomb drop. She hollers, " I think that new medicine worked!", uh, yeah honey, I heard how well it worked all the way in here.

Needless to say the toilet was clogged for most of the evening.

Mr Smith said to be sure and include that he lost 7 pounds, even with a cheat drink of lemonade.

The Fosters had their 3rd visit in a row. Kind of a record. They did go the the office instead of the home because there was no heat.

Happy Birthday!

2009-01-06T22:36:00.000-05:00

Today is ds B's 17th bday. He is my firstborn and it's hard to believe it. He's 6'5" tall and has a full beard, at least until I drive him crazy enough to shave it off every once in a while.

It's been a rough road with this one. Really rough right now. I pray every night that things will get better.

Happy Birthday B!

Check it out

2009-01-05T21:21:00.000-05:00

We had a forged check cashed on our bank account. How this person got the check, I don't know. The number is really old. The bank will put the money back into our account. Good, I wasn't expecting that to happen.

They called this afternoon with another little bit of info. Since our account has been "compromised" we need to close it and open a new one. Are you kidding? I just got new checks, I haven't even used an entire book yet. I told the teller this and she said she would order a set through the bank and waive the fee.

And all of the online auto payments we use for bills have to be changed. I spent over an hour doing that little task this evening. I had 4 ready to come out on Friday.

Foster news-Mom actually kept the visit today. She fed them Mt Dew, Dr Pepper, cookies and candy. We enjoyed a little sugar high crash and burn session this evening with the 2o month old and the 2 1/2 year old.

Mr Smith kept to his plan again today. He actually didn't eat a snack because he was full!

Get the wiggles out

2009-01-03T22:47:00.000-05:00

It's been cold or chilly lately. Too much to go outside and ride bikes or go to the park. So today we drove 30 miles to a town smaller than ours to an indoor McDonald's play land. They had fun. I took 5 critters and Mr Smith. We had fun. They ran amok and I just sat and watched.

Mr Smith started his diet today. He actually ate everything and drank his 8 glasses of water. He had measuring cups out and everything. He even took his snack to Mickey D's with us. While we sat and ate cookies, he ate tuna and peaches. Not together.

Weight loss haircuts

2009-01-02T22:23:00.000-05:00

We became foster parents in May with the plan to adopt 2 children. Two specific children that had been in care for almost 4 years. They lived with us until September and then because of issues with one of them, we asked for them to be moved.

Since then we have had 9 more children in our home. The latest 4 for the last 11 weeks. They are ages 8 months, 20 months, almost 3 and almost 4.

The oldest, a boy, had longer hair. A lot shaggy for my taste, but the mom said no to hair cuts. Fast forward 11 weeks to really shaggy-in the eyes hair. The mom cancelled today's visit. I told the caseworker I planned to have her ask if mom had changed her mind about a cut. She said oh I forgot to tell you, mom said it's OK to go ahead with a little boy haircut. That was at 1:30, haircut achieved by 4:30! He looks so much better and he loves it.

We're not sure what's going on with the mom. She seemed really gung ho to get her kids back in the beginning, but I think she's enjoying her freedom a little too much. She cancelled 2 out of 3 visits this week and the one they went on was cut short because she didn't have any diapers.

In other news, Mr Smith received his nutrisystem shipment today. He wants to lose about 50ish pounds and thought this would be the way to do it. Good for him, I am way too picky for it.

Take two

2009-01-01T19:52:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd give this blog thing another chance. I really enjoy reading other people's blogs and my life is certainly as interesting and crazy as most others!

Here's to 2009!