Happy 4th Birthday, Amata

Amata turned 4 on Mother's Day this year. We didn't get to go out on her birthday, though, because we ended up with a couple of sick kids, but she still enjoyed her gifts & ice cream cake.

She actually got to open one of her gifts a day early because her auntie, Meggie Pie, was here for the garage sale that weekend. (And don't even try to call her Megan in front of Amata, she will correct you.) She loved her new Baker outfit and all of the goodies that go with it!

I did end up taking her & Tyler with me to Mankato to get some groceries and a quick trip to the pet store. Once we got home, she got to open her gifts.

She got a stuffed monkey with a blanket...

Some Moon Sand, which needs to be an outdoor toy because it is NOT just like Play-Do that doesn't dry out!

She also got a washable Dora Doodle Mat, however, we did discover that is wasn't the same as the magic markers that will only write on the things it is supposed to write on. These markers show up very well on skin, too.

And what was probably her favorite gift, her own digital camera with an LCD screen to preview the pictures...because she really doesn't care if they ever get developed, she just wants to see them right away. (This is my favorite gift, too, as I'm hoping this would stop her from using my digital camera)

Caleb decided that if Amata was going to start taking still pictures with her new camera, he would be in charge of the video camera. (Notice Tyler in the background, excited as always)

Her cake is actually a brownie ice cream sundae pie from Schwans, but she loved it as did the rest of us, 'cuz it was yummy!

Poor Baylee...she always ends up asleep during cake time. (She was one of the sick kids that day. Cameron was the other, but he still managed to suck down the cake!)

We did make it to the Wow Zone last weekend to finish her birthday celebration for pizza & games. And by now, a couple of weeks since her actual birthday, she has even started giving her correct age when people ask how old she is. Prior to her birthday, she was telling everybody that she was going to be 6.

Sweet Victory

I was at Wal-Mart last night to pick up necessities for the camper. Probably the exact same “necessities” that we bought last year and should still be there, but somehow disappeared since last season. And when I was going to check out, I noticed that they no longer had the 25 items or less signs on the self-check-out lanes. I got to say, it is pretty sweet to think that not only did somebody actually read the comment I left at Wal-Mart.com, but they even did something about it!

I also noticed that the check-out lane that they keep all of the baby formula in is also no longer a 10 item or less lane. Of course they waited to change that one until my babies were all done with formula, but it makes me smile none the less, because that is just crazy to think that any parent buying formula would have 10 items or less.

Now if only I could find the person who keeps buying every single package of hot dog buns…I’d like to have a word with them. Because, seriously, this is the second time in a row that there have not been any at all. I don’t mean they didn’t have any good hot dog buns or any really cheap hot dog buns; I mean there was not one single, solitary package of hot dog buns left in the entire store. (Or at least the bun isle, because I admit, I did not actually look in every single isle.)

The Nerve

About a week ago, we had our annual garage sale. It went really good. Of course, it did rain on Friday but it wouldn’t be a sale without some rain! We were busy the entire sale, we actually set a new record...$1392.00! My share was about the same as usual, but I really didn’t have any big stuff; I think almost everyone else made more than in the past.

There was one thing that really irritated me, though. At one point I looked down the driveway and noticed a familiar person walking up. Familiar in a bad way. It was a former daycare client…one who still owes us quite a bit, even though her children haven’t been here in almost a year. Now she certainly isn’t the first person who has stiffed us on a bill, but I just think it takes a lot of nerve to come to my garage sale and buy my stuff knowing you owe us money! I guess it shouldn’t surprise me, a good friend of hers also owes us money & yet still brings her daughter trick-or-treating at our house every year.

And as if that wasn’t bad enough, the very next day I got a phone call from a previous client who also owes us money (although not a huge amount). I chose not to answer because I see no reason to waste my breath on someone like her, but she did leave a voicemail saying she was looking for daycare for her 4 year old. No mention of the fact that she still owed us from the last time we cared for her daughter over a year ago. And when I didn’t call her back after that, she called again a couple of days later. It makes me think there are probably a few other bridges she has burned with other daycare providers and so now she is trying to find somebody who doesn’t remember her.

I’m just saying that if I owed somebody money that I had no intention of paying, I would at least try to avoid from them.

Peanut

I had discovered that on Jeff Dunham's website, you can sign up to be notified when an item comes in. And since my Christmas gift for Cameron didn't happen, I had signed up hoping it would become available by Cameron's birthday, but that would have been too easy!

However, today I received an email from jeffdunham.com stating the Peanut doll was now available. So I went to the website & purchased one. AND I have received a confirmation email this time, so that's a good sign. I just wanted to let you know in case any of you wanted to run out & buy one, too. (an interesting side note, his actual company is called Brasma...I just that it was a odd.)

So Long, CJ

Well, it looks like miracles do happen. CJ's biological mother actually checked in to a treatment center that allows children to stay there with their mothers. She had checked into a similar one a couple of months, but left early because "the other girls didn't replace the outlet covers after they had used them, and what if he was crawling around with a fork in his mouth?" Personally, I thought a better question might have been why what would a nine month old be doing crawling around with a fork in his mouth, but she never asked for my opinion.

She had to make it there for 2 weeks before he could go with her, and since I had no idea if the people at that center would replace the outlet covers, I wasn't certain CJ would be going until the social worker actually arrived here on Wednesday morning to pick him up. (I learned long ago that nothing is certain in foster care until

it actually happens) As long as she follows her "plan" as prescribed in the chemical dependency assessment and she doesn't relapse she'll get to keep him.

As far as babies go, he was actually a very easy little guy to take care of, once we came to an agreement on exactly how much he needed to be held. But the fact was, he was still a baby, and we seem to have an abundance of little people around here these days.

Since he is not with us anymore, and since some people (Megan) called me a sucker for taking him in the first place, I will share the one picture I did take of him right after a bath.

How could anyone have said no to this little cutie?!

Discrimination

A couple of months ago, while on a trip to the pet store (because, seriously, the kids like the pet store more than the zoo!) Cameron was looking at the ferrets. I wasn’t with, so I don’t know exactly how the conversation went, but the result was Chris told Cameron that he could get a ferret if he saved $120.00. I guess Chris forgot that Cameron’s birthday was coming up. So, even before the big garage sale next month, Cameron had his $120.00. Can you feel the joy & excitement oozing out of me? I was trying to get rid of the animals we currently had, not add to them. The only up-side is that the cage stays in Cameron’s room…let’s just hope he doesn’t escape.

So, last week, Chris took most of the kids (for some reason he didn’t want to take CJ) to the pet store in Mankato to pick out a ferret for Cameron. Meet Hunter…

I guess Hunter is actually deaf. Don’t ask me how exactly you go about figuring out that a ferret is deaf, but that’s what they said. And because of that fact, he was half price. Now, anybody who knows me knows that I am all about getting something on sale, so I am not complaining. I’m just curious. Who really cares if the ferret is deaf? It’s not like we have to learn sign language for a ferret, or that he won’t be able to come when he’s called…because although I haven’t studied up on them, I’ve never heard about training a ferret with voice commands. So why do they feel the need to lower the price for him? Is he going to be any less of a ferret because he can’t hear us? If they hadn’t told us he was deaf, we would never have known. The kids seem to love him whether or not he can hear.

Thank Goodness for EBay

It would probably be an understatement to say that I am kind of “chesty”. And I am not bragging when I say that, bigger is certainly not always better. I cannot just walk into a store to buy a bra, I have to order them online, which gets tricky when finding a comfortable, nice fitting bra; especially ones that cost less than $80.00. But a few years ago I found “the one”. It fit well, was comfortable, and most importantly, cost under $30.00. It’s been a while since I’ve ordered any, and it was definitely time. So I went to the website I get them from and searched for my size, and the bra wasn’t there. I searched by the brand and found the bra, only to discover it is being discontinued and they no longer have my size.

I was crushed. It literally took me years to find that bra! So I spent too much time scouring the internet trying to find anybody that had some left. I searched using the brand & style number and was having no luck. So I just searched for the brand and the size and there it was. A power seller on EBay who had 24 left, and they were only $20 each with free shipping. I almost bought all 24 of them, but spending $500.00 on bras all at once, so I limited myself to 10…for now.

Belated Easter

We were actually able to celebrate Easter on time...I was just not able to get any pictures posted on time. And before we get to the pictures, I just need to stress that the Easter Bunny does not normally bring such big toys for Easter. But, you see, (as I explained to the boys before Easter so they wouldn't think they got shafted) he was out shopping on Black Friday and came across a deal too good to pass up. And since it was more of a summer type of toy, Santa Claus really couldn't use them. And with Caleb's birthday in October, it really wouldn't even work for birthdays. So, Easter it was. Luckily, I also got great deals for the boys, too, so they didn't feel too bad.

We did manage to get the eggs colored before the big day...barely. These pictures were taken around 8:30 Saturday night. Cameron showed the little ones how before they tried their own eggs. Tyler was very excited about coloring the eggs.

Baylee has to wait until next year to color her own eggs, but she was awesome at supervising the others.

It was a pretty late night for the Easter Bunny, but he was able to get all of the real & fake eggs hidden, as well as the baskets. He did a pretty good job at hiding them, too. One of the daycare kids just found one of the fake eggs today, and there is still one more missing. (Notice, I referred to the Easter Bunny who cannot remember where the eggs were hidden as a male.) All of the kids enjoyed finding the eggs.

That is an egg in Caleb's hand, it just happened to be right next to the TV where SpongeBob was on.

Although, obviously, Tyler was the most excited.

The baskets were pretty well hidden, but eventually they all found their loot. Tyler had to be threatened with not getting a basket again before he got off of his behind to go outside & look. He did admit it was worth the effort, though.

The little kids hung outside for a while after that to try out their new wheels. There were some crashes. The first one recorded shows the blue truck running into the pink one, and some people complain about woman drivers. (There was a rumor going around that the pink truck may have actually run into the Suburban before this, but there is no evidence to support that rumor.)

I hope you all had a great Easter!

Happy Birthday, Cameron

It was Cameron’s birthday on Friday…which is actually the exact same day he was born. It has taken 11 years for his birthday to fall on Good Friday. I specifically remember this, because in case you were wondering, there is absolutely NOTHING to watch on a hospital TV on Easter Weekend.

His birthday didn’t start out all that great. I had to go to pick up the tables I won on Ebay for my garage sale (I saved over $60 than if I had bought them new, and got an extra 8 foot table!), and I also wanted to get to the Social Security office so that I could finally apply for Caleb & Baylee’s new cards, because in case I forgot to mention it, a mere 6 months after their adoptions were finalized I finally received Caleb’s new birth certificate. I actually went alone, leaving Tyler & Cameron to watch the little ones. I might have felt bad, but I did ask them if they wanted me to take one of the babies with me, but they said no (I believe it was the dollar signs running through their heads.) I walked in the door to hear Tyler telling Cameron how much money they made. The house was a disaster and I had a bunch of papers on the table, which one of the kids had gotten into (okay, so it did cross my mind to put them away before I left, but for whatever reason I didn’t. Let’s pretend I did it on purpose to test them), and they did not change a single diaper the entire time I was gone – Baylee was soaked and the other two weren’t much better. So, after I made them change all 3 diapers, we had to have a little chat about what I expected to happen when I paid them to watch and care for the babies…primarily that I expect them to watch and care for the babies.

There was one positive note. I had to use the trailer to get all 5 of the tables, which is fine…as long as I do not have to back up. Even if I wanted to try at this point, I wouldn’t be allowed since the last time I tried to back up with a trailer I put a big dent in Chris’ pretty red truck. I get the whole theory of backing up with a trailer, but it never works for me. Since Chris was working, that left me in a little bit of a pickle of how to unload the trailer & remove it from the Suburban so we could meet Chris for birthday fun later that afternoon. Luckily, when I got home, there was a message from some friends of ours asking if they could borrow the trailer. I called them back right away and said they were more than welcome to use it…as soon as they could help me get backed into the driveway & removed from the truck.

Once that was done, and the kitchen was picked up a little, we headed off to meet Chris at the WOW Family Fun Center. They have an arcade, mini golf, laser tag & bowling. The cool thing about their arcade is you actually put money onto cards, similar to a hotel key, and they swipe it to play the games, and that keeps track of the tickets earned. Cameron’s favorite game is the Big Bass Fishing game, so that is where he went first…and proceeded to with the jackpot of 1000 tickets. That pretty much made it the coolest birthday ever for him. He won a jackpot on another game, too, although that was only 183 tickets. Caleb had a blast pretending to drive the car game, and Amata found a dancing game, so she was all good. We had some pizza, the boys played laser tag, and we then we headed home to enjoy some cake & open gifts (after I ran to Wal Mart to buy a cake and then went home to quick wrapped the gifts, because I’m very organized like that).

Tyelr was especially excited about singing Happy Birthday to him.

I think he had fun. And luckily, Caleb & Amata were there to help him open his gifts, as that can be a very daunting task to do alone. He got a PSP game, a jacket, a Giga Ball (Tyler was a little jealous about the giga ball.) and a Struxx kit to make several different electronic animals, which he spent the next 3 days putting it together.

It is such a simple word...only two letters...only one syllable...and yet at times it can be so hard to say. Granted if you ask my kids, they'll tell you that I say it all the time. And I would agree, I really don't have much trouble saying no to them, or to the daycare kids, or to telemarketers. But when someone I know, or kind of know, asks me for help, if I can help, even if I really don't want to, I just can't seem to say no.

So, about a month ago, I got a phone call from somebody looking for daycare for a 9 month old. Since I already have a infant part time & a full time infant who will be starting back next week, I'm technically full. But they went on to explain that it was for an emergency "relative placement" foster child, and that is should only be for a couple of weeks because the mom was supposed to be going to a treatment facility that allows the children to join their mother. And so, since the part time infant's mom was actually on medical leave for several weeks, I said I would watch him.

You'd think I'd never been involved with foster care before! I mean, really, the last time they placed a child with us and said it would only be for a couple of weeks, he ended up staying with us for a year and five days. So it really shouldn't have surprised me when mom failed to go to treatment. I mean, if anything, I should have felt a little badly for not warning the aunt that it rarely goes as quickly as anyone hopes.

The main problem with that was probably the fact that this aunt is a single mother, who has a full time job including most Saturdays and her youngest child is almost 12. She was not exactly wanting to have an infant for an extended period of time. So it really shouldn't have surprised me when the phone rang about 2 weeks ago with the caller id showing it was Human Services. Although I did have a WIC appointment coming up, so maybe it was just my reminder call??? Of course not.

It was the social worker who handles the cases in my county involving children 8 & under. He said he had an infant in a relative placement in town that was not working out, and was wondering if we would consider having him placed with us. My brain said NO...what kind of crazy person who already has 5 children, 3 of which are between 18 mos & 4 years old would even consider taking on a 9 month old? I guess that would be me...because my mouth said yes.

He did say that they were still trying to find another relative to take him, although it was kind of unlikely. Which meant there was still a chance we wouldn't get him. And when the social worker didn't call back for 5 days, I was really starting to think we were off the hook. And then he called last Thursday and said he was about 99% sure the child would be placed with us. And then he called Friday and said that he had officially placed the child with us as of that morning, and since he was already here for daycare, he'd just send out the paperwork.

And so, in addition to our own Caleb, we now have a Baby Caleb staying with us. We've decided to call him CJ to avoid confusion. The only good thing is that he paternal grandmother does want to adopt him, but she lives in another state right now, so she can't have him unless the parents rights are terminated because the parents have to be able to visit him while he is in foster care. So, I can hope that it is a short term placement, in all likelihood, it will be several months so we just have to remember that at least we will NOT be adopting him!

I'm not planning to post a picture of him since he is in foster care, and isn't going to be a permanent member of our family, so you'll just have to take my word for it that he is absolutely adorable!

Probably TMI

Lately, it has become harder & harder to get Caleb to sleep before 10, which is my mandatory bedtime...especially on a weeknight. And, I just haven't had the heart or the energy to use the Super Nanny technique of placing him in his bed and then spending the next hour or more placing him back into his bed every time he gets up. I know the time will come, soon, when we just have to bite the bullet & do it, but not yet.

That being said, there are many nights when Caleb ends up coming to bed with us in our bed. (To be honest, he ends up in our bed every night, but sometimes he does sleep in his bed for a few hours first...it's all in the name of sleep for mom & dad) We usually watch the 10 PM news and kiss good night and go to sleep. Lately, however, Caleb has been hijacking my goodnight kiss. When Chris leans over to kiss me, Caleb pops his head up & gives him a kiss. I mean, it's bad enough he's stealing my bed, but now my kisses? I think he just knows he's so darn adorable that I won't do anything to him for it!