Next Year? Already?

Random Picture of Shawn overseeing Brytini getting ready for a pig show...

I have been thinking a lot about next year, and I have to say that I feel like this would be the perfect time for me to stay home with the boys and spend time taking care of things there. (Ok, I admit this happens every year.)

The school year is winding down. Slowly. But before we know it, it will be summer. And then before we know it, we will be back at school. But I wish it weren't so.

So, what is keeping us from being able to do it?

Ok, so Shawn got a pretty good raise this year when he went to teach in Liberty Hill. That is a great blessing that we have used to pay off a lot of our remaining debts. So we are almost done with those, except for our cars, of which there are many.

We have 4 cars. Someone say it with me: "WHY?" Well, there is a valid use for each one of them. Just ask Shawn. The white truck is a farm truck used to feed cows. The Suburban is just in case we all go somewhere together. The little car is for good gas mileage, and the gray truck is the other every-day vehicle. Right now the Suburban needs an alternator, or possibly just a new battery.

The only thing is, we are paying on all 4 cars. And will be til next year sometime. So that stinks.

But even so, I bring home about a relatively small amount of our monthly income. And that is due in part to me working in a lower-paying school, and partly due to the fact that Day Care comes right out of my check before I see it.

We do get some financial assistance since we are foster parents to help pay for all the needs kids have. So that helps.

So, my idea is that we would save on Day Care money, and I would be free and flexible to meet our family's needs, whenever and wherever. And soon enough we'll be done with car payments. Wouldn't that be great?

I think so!

I'm Baaaaack!

Hello again, faithful followers (Ahem, mom:) Just kidding, I don't think she even reads this, so that brings the total to somewhere probably in the very low single digits.

But I don't mind... I do this mainly for myself, but for those of you who are wondering why I even keep this thing up if I don't ever write on it, it is because I still like to go back and read some stuff about what our lives were like so long ago :)

So, thinking about that has made me decide to get back on here regularly again. I have been blog-stalking lots of fun people lately and I love that they have a record of all the little things that make them and their families who they are.

So, welcome back to me :)

Ashilee

Well, Ashilee left for Houston on Friday. She is to be gone for 3-6 months... Kind of crazy, the way the whole thing happened. It has been over a month since the fire, and her caseworker (and supervisor, etc.) decided finally to go ahead and have Ashilee complete a program in Houston to maybe help her with some coping skills. She's been through a lot in her young life.

Also, her parents gave up their rights last month, right around the same time as the fire. So they are legally free for adoption now. The only thing now is that we have to wait until she gets back so that we can wait the 6 month waiting period required before finalizing adoptions. We don't know if we can go ahead and finalize with Brytini or if we have to wait and do them together.

The one good thing is that we still get to keep in touch with letters and phone calls. Plus, as her caseworker pointed out, Ashilee has a place to go back to, unlike a lot of kids in her situation. So pray for Ashilee, and for the kids whose future is even more uncertain. With foster care, there is always a level of uncertainty, even for her...

It's been a while

The cutest little boy to ever start Preschool!


Well, it's only been about 6 months since I wrote on here... oops. School is in again, we are finishing our first 6 weeks up this week. I have to get grades done by Monday at noon I think. Yahoo.

Anyway, Bryce is in Pre-K 3 now. That is Pre-K for 3-year-olds here in Lometa. Henry is in the same little house as him in the daycare side. It is right on the same property as the school, so we are all close this year. Thinking about switching things up next year somehow. More later on that.

Henry is 19 months now and he wants to be stuck to me like glue all the time lately. If he's not doing that he is following Bryce around and playing cars with him.

Ashilee and Brytini started back at Lometa this year, and they seem to be doing well. Brytini is in 3rd grade, Ashilee is in 7th.

Today we have a case manager coming out to our house to see the girls. This is our new agency case manager and I have to say that so far I have not been impressed. She is brand new, and we are being switched from someone with a lot of experience, so that kind of stinks. Oh well.

Before I forget, here is a list I was inspired to write by a girl I knew in High School. On her myspace, she had her list, here is mine:

25 things I love at 25:

1. Shawn, my prince charming of 5 years
2. Bryce: the bravest 3-year-old. He got a shot today and simply said “ow.” That was it.
3. Henry: 18 months and loves his “bubba”
4. Ashilee: 12, but try to convince her of that 
5. Brytini: 8 years old; loves Guitar Hero, specifically “Hit me with your best shot!”
6. my front porch-it’s peaceful and fun to watch the kids play
7. being in a small town-most people know me, even if I don’t know them (My father-in-law is the judge after all)
8. the library- I just discovered our local (20 miles away) library, and I love taking the kids there… Free fun!
9. sunglasses
10. dark red paint in my den… and brown in the living room…
11. Thrift stores
12. having summers and holidays with family since I’m a teacher
13. internet forums, they are really interesting when you are researching a decision on almost anything!
14. getting snail mail from friends
15. pepperoni pizza, original crust
16. cool weather (NOT cold)
17. formal dresses and a reason to wear them
18. Dr. Pepper
19. West Highland White Terriers
20. Pam, my sister
21. Brandy, now has a 1-year-old and a newborn, and still takes time to call me
22. Kristen, getting through another hurricane, but as always the best!
23. my DSLR camera
24. traveling
25. the 5 minutes between classes

Update on kids

Well, I had to cancel my Glamour Photo Shoot... Oh well, just didn't have enough interest and I didn't want to buy a bunch of stuff just for a couple of people. I would have lost money on that deal.

But I have senior pictures lined up for next Thursday, and a photo session on Saturday in San Saba. Then I have some Sweet 16 pics to do on the 26th. So I think we'll be having a lot of fun by May!

Henry is almost walking on his own now. He took about 7 or steps yesterday, before he tripped. He only had one shoe on so that edge of the shoe made him lose his balance. He is so cute! And he is really happy, just like Bryce.

Bryce is even more independent now and he has a mind of his own! He'll tell me to "Say mark set go, mom." And if I say it wrong he will let me know it. He'll say "Don't say that, ma!" When I do say it, he pushes his firetruck as fast as he can through the house like he is racing. And he also tells me to "go faster, ma!" when I'm driving, or he'll ask me "Are you racing?" He gets that from watching Cars!

Brytini is reading Charlotte's Web right now, along with some other books. She is the bookworm right now, and Bryce is definitely imitating her... She is hyper as always, but she is doing pretty well in school. We just have to make sure that we remind her to get her homework out and actually do it :)

Ashilee doesn't have any extracurricular activities going on right now since basketball ended a while back. So things are pretty relaxed. She is looking forward to the summer, as we all are!

Here is a picture of the kids a couple weeks ago at the park:

Spring Break Corpus Christi

We had a great Spring Break visiting down in Corpus! We left town Friday afternoon and headed to San Antonio for the night. We got to eat at the Rainforest Cafe there and that was a lot of fun! They have lifelike animals all over the place and about every 10 minutes they "come to life." The first time Bryce saw the gorilla start jumping around he nearly jumped out of his seat. Poor baby, it was so cute, though!

The next day we went to the zoo and got some cool pics there. We rented a wagon for Henry and Bryce, but Bryce preferred to pull the wagon "for myself, Mom" Apparently he is a big boy now and we better not forget it! :)

Ashilee pulled them some, too, and helped carrying Henry when he didn't want to be in the wagon anymore! Brytini liked looking at all the animals and she even got to put a bird on her shoulder in one of the bird areas. All four of them fed the fish, too. It was a lot of fun.

From there, we headed to Corpus Christi to spend 6 days. We went to the Texas State Aquarium, we swam in the ocean, and we visited the mall a couple of times. The girls spent one night with my mom while Shawn and I went on a late night cruise. It was nice, but wow, you could feel every pitch and roll, as they called it. Luckily neither of us got seasick or anything! We were out for about 6 hours.

Alas, now it is back to school...

Photography Dreams

Well I got my business cards in the mail yesterday, and I had a lot of fun passing them out to people at school today. I had several people mention they'd like to get some pictures done, so now I need to follow up on that and get them some information. I think since I'm just starting out that I don't want to charge too much so we are both getting something great out of the deal :) I just need to cover gas and expenses of printing of course :)

And April 5 I set a date to do some glamour shots at our house. So I need to get a background, some boas and glamourous fabrics for costumes, and some bling jewelry. I'm excited to get started!

New Header

Ok, my header has finally gotten a picture... Bryce's expression is so cute, and we couldn't help but crack up when we saw what finger he was holding up! :) (By the way, Shawn took this picture!)

Starting a business

I am researching what it would take to open a photography business, and I am planning on trying it out this summer! So if I can get some people to take a chance and hire me, I will be making a little money off of photography! That is exciting, I just hope I can hit the ground running. The only problem I see is living in the middle of nowhere. But maybe with the right advertising that won't be a problem. I don't mind travelling, after all. If it looks like I could make some money, I might be able to jump in full-time and try to make a go of it! I have been scouring photographers' websites and looking at printing services online. I'm still looking into startup costs right now... Business cards, website hosting and setting up my own domain name (www.diamondlphotography.com?), flyers, a copy of photoshop, etc... And maybe a lens or two. We've got a couple of good ones so far.

Thank you Mom!

Well my mom is leaving today after being at our house a whole week! She kept all four kids by herself while Shawn and I went to San Antonio for four days. And not only that but she bought us all kinds of groceries and even left fully cooked meals in the freezer!! Thank you, Mom!

The San Antonio Stock Show was fun, although we spent more time doing things other than the stock show. We went ice skating, we saw a movie, we visited the Alamo, and we braved a mirror maze. We had a lot of fun :)

I definitely missed everyone, though. When I got home Henry motioned for me to come get him and then when I put him down he screamed. Poor baby. I had just stopped by the house to drop off formula on the way back to school. I had to go put in a few more hours before I could come home. Today is school as normal, darn it. The picture is of all 6 of the kids who showed from Star.

Complete Turnaround!

Ok, so yesterday I talked about how the girls may not be able to be adopted after all. But Shawn just called me and the judge has ordered mediation, which means that we will be having a meeting with the girls' mom and basically trying to come to an agreement that would make it possible for us to adopt the girls. maybe we would agree to some kind of contact, like letters and pictures, or something like that. So we will see! Shawn got to testify... I am sure it was a scary experience!! I'm glad it was him and not me! Anyway, I am much more optimistic about everything now :)

Court Date

Today is the girls' court date at 11:30. Shawn is there to see what happens and possibly testify... We'll see what they say.

I found out that my friend Brandy is going to have her reception on March 22, 2008. They got married December 22, 2007 in a small ceremony that I was able to attend! And she is expecting again! Leigha is going to have a baby brother or sister :) She called me last night and was wondering about a book I read once that she wants to read. It is The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace. I really liked it, it was straightforward and honest, and biblical. That is a good combination...

They grow up so fast!

I know everyone says so, and it's because it is true!! A week ago Bryce was terrified of showers. Now that he knows we have a handheld shower head, he begs to take a shower "in you shower, mom" He loves it! And he is talking about everything now... He just told me "I almost slipped on that, mom. It's macaroni!" He is now calling me mom. Mature for a 2 year old, don't you think? It is of course because of his older sisters. Oh well, maybe Henry won't catch on :)

Henry is crawling all over the place and now he's pulling up on everything, too. While Bryce was playing in our shower, he was pulling up on the side of the tub watching all the fun, and begging to get in. It sounded like this "Ta-ta? Taaa-Taa!" He's just so cute I could eat him up. Seriously, he is the cutest baby ever (since Bryce of course). He is laying on me right now sleeping and I have the computer almost too far away to reach, but its propped on my knee and I am typing two-handed. Pretty good if I do say so myself! Shawn is in Odessa without us, eating pizza and watching movies. I am jealous!

Reading blogs... interesting

Wow, I have been reading a lot of blogs lately! I have mainly been reading foster care/ adoption blogs. Hearing everyone's stories is somehow comforting. We aren't the only ones dealing with everything in "the system." Shawn is in Odessa as we speak because the girls had a court date and we didn't want to miss it. All this time it seemed termination of parental rights (TPR) was imminent, but now the judge says "it has been too long" and the case they had 2 years ago is no longer going to work. Their mom apparently does care for them, she just isn't able to take care of them, if that makes sense. Which I understand. I just wish the girls could have permanency instead of having to be foster kids til they are 18!

The sad thing is that the girls are now not going to be able to be adopted. They will be under permanent custody of CPS (and hopefully us) but they are still kind of in limbo. Adoption means something, even if they are going to be with us, it just isn't the same if they don't have our last name and they aren't legally ours. For one thing we can't parent them the way we feel is best because of all the things we have to adhere to as foster parents. Plus we will have to keep everything locked up indefinitely... I was kinda hoping to adopt them and then not have to do all the "foster parent stuff" anymore. I was looking forward to FREEDOM! Inspections, caseworker visits, psychological evaluations, it never ends! And God forbid you don't turn in a form that says they had their yearly physical. Ok, the court date isn't even til tomorrow but all this info is from their new caseworker...

On a different but related note, their sister may be coming to visit over Spring Break for a few days...

Freecycle

I just got the coolest thing for free! It is a little swingset for toddlers. It has a swing and a little fort area with a slide. It's so cute, and I got it free off of freecycle!

People give away all kinds of free stuff. I have given away clothes, and all I did was send out an email to my group, and the first one to respond I told them where to come pick it up. It is great!

It's Been A While, Again...

Well Christmas and New Year's came and went. On to another semester at school. I got a great Christmas present this year, a digital SLR camera. It has been a lot of fun, I am still learning but already have taken lots of great pictures. The camera really does make it a lot easier to get some good shots. Here are some I like a lot:








I decided last Wednesday (before I got strep throat) to dive back into the world of html... I haven't gotten too far yet, but it is interesting to design a webpage from scratch. I'll have to share when I get something cool made. I never really like the templates I find, so maybe I can do better.

I really want to open a photography business and quit my "real job." I hope someday that happens :) My mom offered to buy me a backdrop and some lighting for my birthday to take a family portrait. Sounds like fun! I am hoping this summer maybe to put up a website to promote myself. Shawn might even join me. He is an experienced studio photographer and is interested in creative photos of outdoors stuff: leaves, animals, etc. I am more into pictures of people just being themselves. So, we'll see what happens! We have already decided on a name and I have been playing around with logos, mainly just cause I get bored and have nothing better to do. (Ok, I have tons to do, but I'd rather play with logos.)

Good news yesterday! My sister took her NCLEX-RN test to be a registered nurse and she passed! I knew she would, even though she was skeptical! She is really smart and a very hard worker!! I knew she would do well. Seriously, I am lazy compared to her. That is one reason I am hoping she will come help me pick out colors and paint some rooms in my house sometime soon. Come to think of it, I might need to invite several friends/workers ;) I have a lot of walls to cover in a weekend.

Shawn decided I could do what I wanted with the house, but he didn't want to be there for it. I decided that sounded good, so sometime soon he will go away for a weekend and come back to a newly painted house.

Ok, back to my class now...

Swingin'

Yesterday at Star School waiting for Shawn to get through driving the bus.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I am excited about decorating for Christmas this year. Shawn and I went to Wal-Mart and got some maroon and silver christmas ornaments. Gig 'em Aggies! And I even made a wreath out of come cedar branches I cut off of a tree out by our house. I put a red bow on it. It looks a little scrawny, but I got tired of getting scratched up by the cedar. Oh well! We are supposed to get our tree this weekend, so that will be fun. Shawn is going to cut it down at a Christmas Tree Farm.

Shawn has some big ideas for what he wants to get Ashilee and Brytini and Bryce. We'll see what happens!

Misty's wreck

There has been a lot going on lately. Recently a good friend, Misty, (the twin sister of one of my best friends) was in a car accident. She fell asleep at the wheel and hit a tree. She was in ICU for a week or so, and she had a cracked pelvis and a sliced spleen. She had a lot of mucus in her lungs, so she was on a ventilator for about a week. Things seemed to be getting better, though, and they moved her to her own room and after two weeks of being in the hospital she was moved to a rehab facility nearby. That was on Thanksgiving.

The very next day she was moved back to ICU. Her lungs filled with fluid. She had pneumonia. One of her lungs collapsed, and one of her lungs had a blood clot in it. (Not sure if it was the same lung or not) She is only 25, and she is fighting for her life. They said they almost lost her Friday night. Anyone that reads this, please pray for Misty!

Brandy (her sister) is set to get married December 22, and we are not even sure if Misty will be out of the hospital by then. We aren't sure what is going to happen. It is heartbreaking. She had been driving back and forth to school and that is when she fell asleep while she was driving.

Toe-tally fun!

Just a cute photo of our Henry (also known as "Hank" to some...)