Today Might Just Be the Day...

What happens in the daily life of the family.. the drama of foster care, the adventures of parenting, & pictures to share with everyone!

Updates

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So, my kids go back to school in a couple weeks… 11 days actually. How crazy is that?

The summer has flown by.

Last week we had (well, I had) a pretty major event. I had some sinus surgery done. For the past two years I’ve had a pretty much constant sinus infection. I’ve been seeing an allergist and an ENT and my PCP and trying all sorts of things. I’ve been on about every anitbiotic under the sun–for 4 to 6 weeks at a time. We’ve tried different allergy meds and sinus rinses and steriods. And, while it’s cleared up a little, I’ve never been able to get relief for more than a week or two at a time.

Anyhow, I went ahead and took the path of surgery. I was a little nervous last week this time when I went under the knife. But, I’ve just been feeling so bad for so long…

Well, yesterday I went back in for my post op appointment and I think that the Doc was pleased with where I am as far as recovery. I’m happy because he told me that I can blow my nose again! And last night I actually got some sleep! Believe me, I’m a better wife/mom/friend/person when I have sleep.

So, there’s the update on me. I go back in another week to be rechecked. And I’m still working with my allergist doing weekly injections and I’m still on a handful of medications a day, but I can breathe 🙂

As for the rest of my crew… Well, d has been having his own medical challenges this summer with recurrent ear infections. But, other than that he’s chugging along. He was trying to convince me to let him T.P. our neighbors the other night. I told him he has to be able to afford to buy his own toilet paper before he can T.P. anything.

D finished up with summer school a week or so ago.. And he’s enjoying not having to rush around and get up early in the morning. He also has perfected the art of blowing bubbles in his gum.. so good, in fact, that there’s still gum in his hair that I will likely need to cut out soon.

V… What can I say about V? He cracks us up every.single.day. Sometimes even on purpose. Daddy took all of the boys to the Home Run Derby the other night (spoiled, aren’t they?). While they were there he bought them ice cream. V ordered coffee because he said that he *never* gets the chance to get coffee because I won’t let him. Gotta love a 5 y.o. who tries to get his caffiene fix via ice cream. He’s in the middle of soccer season and still really enjoying it. And I think that he’s very ready to start Kinder. Although, even typing that I start to tear up a bit… Another of my babies getting so big!

Last, but not least, we have the Bean. She’s exhausting! Drama from the time she wakes up until the time that she sleeps. But, she’s still fun. She, too, is playing soccer, but spends most of her time getting drinks of water. And I *know* that I am ready for her to go back to school. Last year, she stayed home with me full time and we just did a couple classes through the city. I think that we’ll both do better with her having more time around other kids and adults. On a plus side, I took all 4 to the dentist yesterday (insane!), and she was a total rock star. She’s been hit or miss in the past as far as letting them root around in the past, but yesterday she was still and calm and had a great check up.

And that brings me to Brian. I don’t typically blog too much about him. But, he needs an update. His station is moving. So, basically he’s having to build a new radio station from the ground up–physically at least. The new offices are really nice and a great location. We think that this is a very good change. But, it’s been a ton of work! And I think that we’re shy of the halfway point. So, if you see my man and he looks a little worn down, he is… Yesterday he left around 5 in the morning and wasn’t home until around 8 last night. Poor dude.

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So, somewhere in that novel, I mentioned the Home Run Derby… Well, Brian took the boys to the Home Run Derby and I took all of the kids to the All Star Game!

This wasn’t in our plans, but we had friends offer us tickets and jumped at the chance. I figure this is a once-in-a-lifetime event for me and likely for all of us.

I am such a sap, I kept tearing up..when they played the anthem, watching the kids get so excited for Justin Upton (our home team All Star), hearing Bean giggle madly at Daniel’s bubbles…

Now, it wasn’t all fun and games for  a mom of 4.. we took 3, yes *3* trips to the bathroom in the first 4 innings… And we didn’t make it through the whole game. We left in the 8th inning. And man, my kids can eat! We brought in food & then bought more.. they had kettle corn, peanuts, sunflower seeds, fruit snacks, oreos, roughly 9 bottles of lemonade and 2 packs of big league chew…

All in all, it was a great night. And I hope that it’s a memory that will last a lifetime for all of us…

(Psst.. if you want to learn how to do the wave, my kids can teach you now. Bean was giving Daddy lessons.)

I heart Ikea

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If you’d ever been to my house in the past decade or so, you’d already know that I love Ikea. At a few times in there virtually all of my/our furniture was from there.

Thankfully, our budget has grown so we aren’t quite encased in Swedish goodness anymore.

But, I do still love it.

We went last week. There were 2 reasons we went.

1-Free childcare. Honestly, that would have been reason enough. An hour to wonder the store with no children. Have to love that.

2-Their little plastic bowls…

For $1.99 you can buy six of these little guys. And they’re the perfect size for kid portions of cereal, jello, applesauce, fruit.. pretty much anything.

When the kids were younger we used the matching plates for virtually every meal they ate.

What are you loving lately?

Before Meets After

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"Before" The Morning of the Cut

A few years ago I cut my hair short right around my birthday. I remember looking at all that was cut off and thinking that I should have put it to better use. So, I started doing a little research. If you want to donate your hair, you do have to care for it a little differently than you might typically. Depending on the organization, there are length requirements, a max amout of grey you can have, and limits on any color that can be used on your hair.

Well, I have some grey (thanks, kids!), and I have always colored my hair–at one point there was even some purple in there. So, I needed to make sure that wherever I picked would still take my hair. I decided to go with Pantene Beautiful Lengths.

The "Sorta After"--cut and color done, but not texturized

Then was the hard part.. having the patience to actually grow my hair out long enough to be able to cut of 8 inches of hair. I have never had really long hair. I just get tired and want change far too often.. And with dramatically changing my color out as well, it’s a small wonder I made it. I will say that I did go from no bangs to bangs and back to no bangs while the rest of my hair was slowly growing out.

So, the day before yesterday I went and finally got the cut. I have a wonderful girl, Natalie at Beauty Brands (where they will have their annual liter sale very soon!) who has been cutting my hair for a few years. She did the big chop and then we (meaning she) did some blonde highlights. After the color she cut a little more and now I have a shaggy-bob 🙂 Or, as she said, “A bob with lots of layers”.

I am a little nervous for this much change, but I think it’ll be cooler for the summer here and it *has* to be quicker to dry and style, right?!?

My pony tail is on it’s way to be used for a wig.

 

The Real "After"!

 

The Summer

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I started this the day that school got out, but, obviously, it hasn’t made it to the posted stage yet. We’ve been busy!

 

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Well, as of a little over an hour ago, the big boys joined V on summer break.

And the question that I’ve been asked again and again is what our summer plans are. And, honestly, we don’t have that many. But, I will share what we typically do and some ideas to keep cool and busy over the summer.

First, swim! This is our first summer having our own pool. The last few years we’ve bought a family pass to the city pool. It’s under $100 for all of us and well worth it! Our city pools vary by location, but the one that we went to had a couple water slides, fountains to play in, and a separate dive pool. Pretty darn awesome! A link to PHX pools for locals…

To go along with all of that swimming, we’ve always done swim lessons. My big hint is to look for lessons right before or in the middle of free time. That way you don’t have to pack up and go home right away. It’s a chore getting a whole family to the pool. Might as well stretch it.

If you don’t want to swim, don’t discount other water adventures… There are a bunch of splash parks and our zoo has several splash pads as well. Link to some info on splash pads in the valley

The zoo is the most expensive option I’ve listed so far and it cans be a good deal, too. I highly recommend buying a membership.. The zoo is open an hour earlier for members. So, you can go early in the day and avoid, some of, the heat. The daily rates are pretty high, but for under $200, our whole family (and another adult) can enjoy for 13 months— there are always specials going on, we took advantage of an extra month. Phoenix zoo’s current specials are listed here.

The other thing that we’ve been doing for the last couple years is the movies. For $7 a kid (mom, too), we have weekly tickets to a kid friendly movie. It’s a total of 10 movies, but we never make it to all of them. The kids have their reusable cups and we share popcorn… It ends up being around $10 a week for all of us!

And then there’s the whole learning thing… I try my hardest to make sure we keep up some educational stuff. So, we always participate in the library’s summer reading program. And since we just moved a few months ago, we’re in a new library system and they have tons of cool programs going on. Some of the things that our library offers are year round, others are one time deals. Weekly, over the summer, they have special guests come in and do shows.. they also offer story times and some fun classes for all of the kids. D and d are going to a Diary of a Wimpy Kid party this week and next week, they get to make guacamole. How cool is that? And we love the fact that it’s free!

Oh, and while you’re at the library–look for a culture pass! They’re the coolest. Basically, you check out free tickets to a bunch of local museums.. Again, they’re free! Sometimes it’s only for a couple of tickets, others you can get four tickets for. All of them expire 7 days after they’re checked out. This has been going on for awhile now and it’s so very cool. You do need to get to our library early if you want to get a pass, but if they’re all checked out, you can still entertain the kids with all of the books and other fun stuff to check out.

Our favorite museum is the Children’s Museum of Phoenix. It’s very interactive and the kids have a blast. It is on the expensive side though. We have bought an annual pass to this museum, but because of the downtown location, I don’t know that we’ll do it again. We’ve also bought a membership to the Arizona Museum for Youth in Mesa. It’s much smaller than CHOP, but it still has lots to see and do. And it’s very affordable.

We also are a family that loves sports. So, I plan on taking the kids to a baseball game or two. We’re lucky because we can get tickets from time to time. But, there are ways to get free or discounted tickets to the Diamondbacks as well. First, they do have coupons in the Entertainment Book–if you didn’t buy one when they came out last year in the fall, you can now get one for a steal. Also, if your kiddos join the No Chew Crew then they can get a free ticket to a Sunday game. And the Diamondbacks have added value items to their menu so you won’t have to spend a fortune on treats. And, you can take your own food into the park. You can also take in bottled water, just make sure that the bottles are unopened. When we go to the games with the kids, we try to keep in mind that they’re kids and we try to break it up and make it fun.. there is a play area on the upper deck so they can get out some of the wiggles.

What else do we do….?

Oh, we’re also doing some sports this summer. V & B are going to play indoor soccer and the big boys will be playing flag football. I’m looking forward to it as we haven’t done sports since last fall.

And, I am going to be running. I have decided to run my first half marathon (notice how I said first, like there will be more..?) in November. So, I am starting my training now. It’s going slowly, but it is going.

 

So, what are you doing this summer? Any tips you want to pass along to our family?

We’re hoping to also get in a few play dates! So, call if you have free time!

Not getting any better.

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I still haven’t gotten into blogging shape. And now summer really is upon us. Tomorrow is the last day of school for my big boys. It’s gone by quickly! Especially this second half of the year has flown by.

The big reason that I’m struggling with blogging is because I have been having a really rough go lately with my depression. Those of you who know me well, know that I’ve struggled with depression for my entire adult life. Sometimes it’s more manageable than others. The past couple weeks, months?!? haven’t been easy. And last week was really rough. It’s very hard to explain to those on the outside and I know that it’s really hard on those living with me. I am working on it and hopefully, will get through this time just like I have others in the past…

I’m mentally trying to figure out what our summer will look like and trying to focus on creating some organization–I hope that planning and being busy will help me with both my depression and managing our house and kids without the distraction of school.

Hope that you all are well…

 

 

Mr. V

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Did you know it’s summer already?

Well, if you live here, you’ve already experienced triple digits so,
I’m guessing that you know that summer is here.

And if you have a little dude in Head Start, you know that there’s no more school.

Now, you’d think that would be good news for our little guy. After all, virtually every morning he’d complain about school. He’d look forward to Fridays and the weekend and relish not having to go to school. I think that he was excited about no more school… for at least a day.

He’s already informed me that he’s ready to go back.

Gotta love that kid.

Ha!

As always, he’s my drama king.

If it’s not one thing…

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I swear, I really am making an effort to get back in blogging shape. But, it seems that the deck is stacked against me these days… Our Internet is having issues at home. Right now I am blogging at a Dr.’s office.. (how cool is it that they have wi-fi?)

So, a huge thank you to all who helped us celebrate B’s birthday, both in person and through your greetings. I can safely say that he had a great birthday… And a slightly rough recovery the next day 🙂

What’s next?

That’s the question I am trying to answer. I am trying to figure it out on a really small scale as far as cleaning and chores around the house… I am also trying to figure it out on a larger scale… Do I want to keep working on growing a business? What are my other options?

Hmmm…

Does everyone else have an annual mid-life crisis?

I think my biggest struggle is the fact that I am changing my identity… For the longest time I have been a foster mom….now what?

A Husband Looks at 40

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Jimmy Buffett has ended more than a couple of his shows with the song, “A Pirate Looks at 40”. And I love that song.

Today, is a special day because the one I love most is looking at 40. In fact, he’s arrived at 40. I think he was having a little bit of a hard time with it (I’m sure my merciless teasing didn’t help). But, he seems to have come around now. And I think that he should be proud of where he is at this age.. he owns part of a business, has wonderful kids, a hot wife (ha!), good friends, his dream house…

I hope that he’s happy with where he is. I couldn’t be happier than I am right next to him at this point.

Happy Birthday, Baby-Baby!

Changes

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So, no giveaway yet.. Still in process.

Here is one of the posts I have been putting off. It’s also one of the things I have been putting off.

We are closing our foster license.

And I will be honest. I am not ready to. But, our family filled up quickly and we have our hands full. It’s a logical decision… But, I don’t think you can really apply logic to foster care.

So, I am a little sad about it.

For the last few years the title “Foster Mom” has been the badge I’ve worn. Not only are we as a family stopping fostering, but I am going to have to figure out a new identity. And a chapter in our family’s story is ending.

Sigh.

I have so many feelings about it, but it’s hard to put them into words.

So, I think I’ll end this and come back later to possibly address it, or maybe just to avoid it for a bit longer…

I was Running, Jenny

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O.K. I swear, I have been trying and trying and trying to post…
Right now I have my fingers crossed that I’m not typing this all just to perfect my mad skills… rather, I’m hoping that I’ll actually get a whole darn blog post out of it!
As promised, I wanted to share a little about my running (or jogging, but I feel better if I call it running… ). A couple months ago I started a program called Couch to 5k. Basically, it is a plan to take a couch potato (like myself) and get them in good enough shape to jog for 30 minutes straight or a 5k in theory. Now, maybe other beginning runners can run a 5k in 30 minutes, but I cannot. And I’m not sure I will ever be able to . But, I’m o.k. with that.
Anyhow, I started the program, but then I was really unfaithful to it. So, I kind of started skipping around. But, I kept the key concept of using intervals to build up. And I built up to the point that I can now jog over 30 minutes straight and in that time I make it about 2.75 miles (a 5k is 3.12 miles). Way back when I’d started couch to 5k, I’d had it in mind that I’d do a local run in April.
For the past 7 years, there’s been a 4.2 mile run held on and around ASU’s campus to support the Pat Tillman foundation. And that was the goal that I had in the back of my mind. But, I didn’t sign up right away… In fact, I waited until only a couple weeks before the run to sign up. But, I did it. And that’s the key for me. I actually went through and did it.
So on 4/16, I got up at the crack of dawn and Brian got the kids up at o’dark 30 as well and we were off. They dropped me off at 6:30, then headed to the Grandparent’s house where they left the little ones.. then the big boys and Brian headed back.
Being a beginning runner, I had made it a goal to finish the 4.2 miles in under an hour. So, out of 28 corrals, I was in corral 21. It was insane! The first runners left the gate at 7:00, my corral started right around 7:35 or so. Next year I *need* a buddy to do this run for me because an hour was a really long time to sit around and wait and wonder if I’d really make it! Anyhow… I started out at a jog and I made it a little over a mile before I walked.. And I was frustrated with myself. I know/knew that I should/could have run farther before stopping to walk. But, I never jog outside. All of my training had been on a treadmill at the gym. And I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that many people in one place, let alone jogged with that many people! It was sort of like doing a slalom course.. there were people all over the place who were walking or jogging at varrying paces and there were just so *many* people! Also, there was that whole hill factor. Ugh! Around mile 2 I was wondering what in the heck I was thinking.
I also was wondering about pace.
When we’d gone through the start, I hadn’t paid any attention, so I had no clue how long my first mile took. I was able to figure out the time on my second and third miles based on when I’d finished the first, but I was doubting myself the whole way. Even as I finished, I was beating myself up over the fact that I didn’t train enough before and I didn’t push msyelf hard enough that day.
But, needless to say, I did finish.
And, I beat my goal.
I finished in a little under 55 minutes.. that’s a 13 minute mile, or jogging right around 4.6 miles an hour.
That day I wasn’t happy with that time. But, then a couple days later I tried to replicate it on the treadmill and I couldn’t. So, now I’m pretty darn happy with that time. And I’m ready to take on the next challenge. I’ve started shopping for a half marathon or a 10k that sound like fun. I just wish I hadn’t started this all as we went into the beginning of summer as we’ll be in the 100’s here very shortly.
I will also add that my big boys came along that morning because they ran, too. There was a kids’ run that was .42 miles and ended the same place the adult event did–on the 42 yard like of Sun Devil Stadium. They did really well. And I was and am proud of them! We’ve been doing a weekly circuit class together since January and I love the fact that my boys are willing to go sweat with me!
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Well, it looks like this post might actually be a success–just like my run! Although, I don’t want to jinx myself…
Should this really be working, look for more blogging very soon! I have a girl friend who’s doing a give away on here very soon!
Oh, and in addition to those other things that I said I’d be blogging about, I’ll also be begging to you all soon too! In addition to all of the jogging, we’re getting ready for a 5k walk that will take place this Fall, but we’ve already started to raise funds. Our team has a goal of $2k & I hope that you’ll help us get there!
Happy Easter-Eve!