Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my dear husband.

You have found many ways to become a father.

You added two my marriage.........

Two by birth..........

Went to Guatemala to add one.......... Then held out for three years with the foster system to add two more.........

and I have loved sharing this adventure with you every step of the way.

I Do Used

Do you like my new TV stand?

Well, actually it is just new to me. It has some dings and is missing it's legs. However the height without the legs is perfect for my TV.

It cost me $30 and is solid wood. Normally I am tempted to paint old wood items but this one was a little different. The doors slide back and I didn't think that it would paint properly. All I did was clean and stain it.

I love the craftsmanship. The handles on the door slides are not plastic but carved out of wood. The slides are metal.

It was made in Denmark.

I bought it off of Craigslist. I am always looking for wood furniture items. I enjoy stripping them down and then decorative painting them. The last painting job I did was Sarah's zebra dresser.

I am anxious to do another project so I am on the look out for something inexpensive to redo. I do Craigslist, garage sales and thrift stores.

I have heard horror stories about Craigslist so I always take someone with me and let everyone know where we are going. I have never had a problem.

Tasha is supposed to come down next weekend and garage sale with me. I hope she does, because I am going. Maybe I will find a great item.

How about you, do you do used?

Daddy's Home

Remember the old days at the airport? You took you family member right up to the gate and maybe even sat and waited with them until their plane boarded. Then when they came home you waited right at the gate, watching everyone come off the plane. I miss those days.

However, if you have to deal with airports the Columbia. SC airport is a great one to deal with. Everyone comes through one hallway. It is easy to watch for your person while sitting in the rocking chairs or couches. What crowds.....I have yet to see one.

Then right around the corner are the escalators to the baggage claim area....again no crowds.

Everyone was glad to have dad home again. Larissa decided to use him to lay out her bracelet collection while waiting at Little Caesar's.

Those bracelets seem to be the current rage. Every time something simple like that makes it big I wonder why I didn't think of it. But, hey, I had a pet rock when I was a kid......hudda thought.

Larissa MUST have her cuddle time.

I will get one "wait" off my list tomorrow, my washing machine parts came in and they are coming on a Saturday to put them in. Once the washing machine is fixed we are going to move the washer and dryer out to the garage and move our new ones in. Tasha and David will get the older set. They are only 5 years old and already the washer is getting most of the parts replaced tomorrow. They don't make appliances like they used to.....they are Maytag's. If you haven't seen that commercial of the bored Maytag repairman lately it is because he has been busy at my house.

Sometime this week we will be moving around a lot of furniture. It has been decided that Anthony can not be upstairs with the girls.

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There are three bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs. Sarah (and soon Joselin) are sharing the master suite, Larissa in her own room and Anthony in his own room. But, it is not working out, we can't keep Anthony out of Larissa's bedroom and can't rely on a baby monitor all the time.

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We even decided that no toys would be upstairs to lure him into her room. The kids are not allowed to play upstairs at all. There are reasons for our strict rules.

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He was caught in her room at 5 am this morning and again tonight. So, John's office is moving to the FROG (finished room over the garage) and Anthony will be moving to his office downstairs. We will have a total separation of boys and girls. It is sad that this is even necessary.

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Well, it is getting late and I am itching to start sandpapering my new project so I'd better sign off. Have a great weekend.

Randomness

Tasha will be 21 in November and Larissa 5 in September, wonder how long it will take for Larissa to catch up with Tasha? I should get a picture of all the girls lined up when Joselin comes home.

Speaking of Joselin, she has called just about every day since she decided to come home. Before that, she called very infrequently. She flies home next Wednesday. Life should get interesting at that point.

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Anthony wanted me to put on a picture of his favorite shirt. It is paint stained and should go in the trash, but he loves it.

Front

Back.....quite a use of duct tape.

I got something today from Craigslist. I have plans for it.

Anthony lost a loose tooth last night. It has been loose since we were in San Antonio, he will not pull his loose teeth out. I accidentally elbowed him last night and knocked it out.

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The tooth fairy woke up and remembered her duties at 1:30 am. An improvement over the last tooth.....remembering when he said the next morning that the tooth fairy didn't come!

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Every time I look at his crowded mouth I think braces. Every one of our kids has needed braces, Sarah even had to have them twice.

Larissa is now on the max amount of meds that her neurologist prescribed in Texas but I have been having a hard time observing her sleeping. John is in Ft. Huachuca this week so I had her sleep with me.

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I really feel for her husband to be, she is quite a bed hog. (That is a queen size bed)

She is still seizing, although it doesn't appear to be as long to me.

The days have been flying by. I can't believe that it is the middle of June already. I have three kids with birthdays in November, as well as one in July, August and September. I have to start thinking about Christmas, it seems to get more expensive as the kids get older. Oh, but first we will have back to school. I think this summer will be over before we are ready.

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Tomorrow we get to pick John up from the airport. We should have a good weekend before he has to head back to Augusta.

Lady in Waiting

I feel like a lady in waiting.

Waiting for what?

-For the washer repairman to call back with the parts, I was told it would be a week 15 days ago...not that I am counting

-For the high school to call me. I went to register Sarah and was told to sign a list, take a packet and they would call me.

-For the early intervention program to call me back, they said they would this week.

-For neurology to call me, they have our referral.

-For post adoption to call me back since they have to schedule the testing I want for Anthony.

-For medicaid to call me. The doctor that does the testing will not take our insurance but will take medicaid. We didn't have them on it but they qualify for it so I took all the paperwork and filled out forms up to the empty office and was told they would call me.

-For my old doctor office to send the kids records to our new doctor so I can make appointments for the kids and get Anthony started in speech.

-For DSS, Texas is giving them a hard time about our background check for the one year we lived in Texas. It is all we need for our license, our homestudy is done.

-For the license plate for John's new commuter car so he can take it to Augusta. I don't want it here, he needs to get the first scratch on it!

Seems like no one is able to do their job on the spot. I am starting to feel frustrated about how long it is taking to get stuff done.

Between the house, medical issues, school issues, DSS, my possible schooling, new pets, car stuff and everyday life, I worry that I am forgetting something. I guess that comes with getting older.

Socks in the Summer

The summer time is my break time from sock matching. Sure I have to match John's dress socks, but that is nothing to compare to the endless socks for kids.

So when summer comes I gladly buy sandals and flip flops for the kids (any myself). However, this summer I have a rebellious one.
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Dear Anthony,

If you insist on wearing those boots all summer then I have no choice but to teach you the fine art of sock matching. You have brand new Spiderman flip flops that you picked out sitting in the shoe box along with your sandals.

See, the summer time is my break time from socks.

Love,
mom
.......

Think he could tackle this pile?

Puppy Training

Lucy Lou at 12 weeks is doing well. We are working on crate training. After a few difficult days she has determined that she does not like to pee in her crate. Let me tell you, that is a cause for celebration!

She is also walking great on the leash. She does not pull on it and will even walk well with Larissa.



She is a strange dog in that she is not super hyper active. She is quite a calm puppy. Naturally, now that I have written that she will become very active.

We are watching her closely for any illnesses after the first puppy we wanted died. The animal shelter can't make any guarantees on their animals since they have to idea of what conditions they came from. However, Lucy seems to be eating fine and not showing anything concerning.

We are curious as to how big she will be when she is full grown.

Whew, puppies are a lot of work. Honestly, I prefer cats.