Post-Placement Report

CHECK. The kids acted well and life is good.

What We Did on Saturday

You will see that no cleaning was done for our post-placement visit. We did manage a monthly Sam's visit though.

Insight

Yes I know I keep posting short posts but the spirit comes over me and I cannot help it.

Tonight I was telling Judson we were going to need to spend some time cleaning up the house this weekend because the social worker was coming on Monday for Turner's 1 year post placement. (Can you believe it's been 1 year almost?) Judson's comment: Did anyone come to visit me when I was born? Mom: No baby, we didn't have a social worker when you were born. Judson: Not even when I was a baby. Mom: Nope.

See the irony in all that? That any body can produce a baby and no one checks up on them. Even if the child is removed, they will spend months and years trying to put that child back in the same home(from which they were removed) while temporarily(forever) housing them in a foster home. Yet, we had endless numbers of FBI/GBI/Homeland Security/DHS checks run on us. (Not to mention the many medical exams and letters written on our behalf and many hours of classroom studies. Oh dont forget the septic tank inspections) Then we have numerous post-placement visits afterwards.

Not offering what should and should not be changed. Just saying, there's an irony about the whole thing that even a 6 year old can see.

Numbers

So, I took Judson to the grocery store with me tonight. I gave him a pencil and a piece of paper and asked him to keep a running total of what we were buying. He was very excited and extremely diligent about keeping up with everything, down to the penny. We even had produce for which we estimated the cost. There was no calculator used in this exercise, nor did Mom help. (Hey, it's Friday. I don't have any brain cells left.) His total: $83.11. The subtotal rung up at the register w/o tax: $83.20. The cashier was quite impressed.

*Can you say: "Like Father Like Son"

What She Said

http://ethiopiaguzo.blogspot.com/2009/06/adoption-is.html

Too Worn Out to Talk

All I've had lately on this blog are pictures. Why? I just haven't had the brain power to write much. This summer is wearing me down, I think. There's a chaos to this summer that has just gotten to me. Now, in a family of 6, there will always be chaos. This summer, though, has been a disorganized lump of days with very few plans. Anyone that knows me, knows, I am not a fly by the seat of your pants kind of girl. I like 'plans'. I live for plans. I NEED plans. What to do to recover from this break we call 'summer vacation'? Make plans!

THE PLAN

1. Start Judson (and Ansley and Turner) on his home schooling August 1st. (now we've done some this summer but nothing PLANned. ) Going to turn in the paperwork this week to make it official.

2. Sawyer starts school August 10th. This should be interesting since we are hoping to get him on the bus and going 5 days a week. He doesn't like the bus, so this will take time.

3. Find a dance class for Ansley. Yes, I let the summer go by without doing that.

4. Find a Cub Scout troop for Judson. (along with his karate)

NOW, I have something to keep me sane, a PLAN to flesh out. In between all that, I'm going to finish the kitchen painting.

Summer Time....

So, how many kids can fit inside a kiddie pool? At least 7! (There was also a sprinkler going but they said the water was too cold)Make sure you slide the bar over to catch the hand on the hip.

Love This Picture

Cousin Emalyn with hairy Cousin Libby

A friend of my sister-in-law (who owns a photography business) took some pictures of the kids.
My kids were VERY uncooperative that day but Libby and Emalyn had a good time.

We're Back......

After a relaxing weekend in LA. (Lower Alabama) We....















Had our pictures made.....(with our cousins)















Rode 4 wheelers......















Had water gun fights.....(Aunt Robyn got caught in the crossfire)















Got to see some young quail, chickens, pheasants....

And Got to play with Baby Emalyn.

Swimming Progress

Funny. With Judson, he's working on getting Judson to keep his head in the water and just come up to breathe. With Sawyer, he's working with him trying to get him to keep his head up so that he can breathe. They are making progress. I'm very proud of both of them.

It's Decided (a load off my mind)

After much deliberation and thought, Judson has finally decided where he'll be going to college. Whew, I thought we'd never get that decided. Now we can start filling out the paperwork. So glad, we didn't wait till the last moment!

Where you ask is he going? Georgia Tech. It meets all of his requirements: Meteorology, Physics, Trig, Math AND most of all, it's close to home and he can still live here. (That's very important when you are 6 years old)

Now, he can fixate on something else!

Happy 4th!

So, we were supposed to have 2 parades and a playdate. We bailed on parade #2. The kids are worn out. It would NOT have a been pretty.

Parade #1 was much smaller and more low key than in previous years. I guess the economy played a part as there are usually many participants from out of town/state. This year there was only 1 band in the WHOLE parade. At least the bag pipe group had drums, as Sawyer LOVES drums. It isn't a parade without drums. Here are the highlights.

Bike Brigade

BagpipesVeterans

Smiles

There were also fezes, cars (mini coopers and corvettes), motorcycles and dogs.

Then we came home and had a playdate/grill out. They played for several hours and are worn out. Therefore, we will be foregoing the evening parade.

Friends + Water = FUN

OK. Not as good as e=mc2 but it's the best I can do.

Conversations in the Kitchen

J: "Ansley, do you even know what e=mc2 means"
A: "No"
J: " It means energy equals mass times the circumference(***) squared, that's kind of hard for a 4 year old to understand"
A: "I'm going to be 5 in January"

***He's a bit confused. He also learned about pi today, so circumference was also on his brain. ***
I did just ask him what the "c" stood for and he corrected himself, saying it was the speed of light. In his mind, "c" should be the same thing from one equation to another.

It's hard being a little man trying to learn everything before you enter 1st grade.
Sunday night, he read this article. He came into the den where his dad and I were watching tv. He grabbed a book and let it drop. He then announced, "That was one Joule of energy".

Guatemala Trip Part 4 (Final Installment)

The Culture

Guatemala City
Antigua, Guatemala

Guatemala Trip Part 3

The Orphanage
(A collection of buildings actually)

The Kids
The pictures on the yellow wall of the kids living in ONE house.
And you say we have enough children....

Guatemala Trip Part 2

The Work

Digging footings for a new building.

Painting 2 of the homes exteriors.

Guatemala Trip Part 1

Randy spent this past week in Guatemala. He was with a group donating their time to work with THIS orphanage. (Click on the word THIS and go to their site) Over the next few days, I'll post some pics of his trip. First and Last
(Impressions)

The Kids

Future Meteorologist

Why the glum look, you ask? See the weather station on its side? That is used to measure wind speed. THERE WAS NO WIND!

Calgon Take me Away

Let's just say, I'm hoping tomorrow is a better day. The current tally (and the night isn't over yet):
"I Love Judson" Ansley 25 times
"I will not hit" Judson 95 times Ansley 25 times.

Hey...look at their hand writing. Pretty good for a 6 and 4 year old. If nothing else, they are on the road to getting a LOT of work on penmanship. The added bonus, while they are writing (at different tables in different rooms) they are not hitting or saying things like "I don't love you anymore". So mom's blood pressure remains low.