Dee’s been a busy, busy lady this weekend..ouor deck has had some rotten pieces and the hand rails had been not so sturdy so she started to take a couple of boards out so she could replace them and make it all better. Well, easier said than done…we are now minus a deck off the sliding door. What a mess, all of the supports were rotten and it’s a miracle the whole thing didn’t collapse. I just keep thinking back to the 4th of July with the heavy grill and a bunch of people standing on it, amazing it’s still standing. Our friend, Rob, is going to help out building it so that’ll be nice. Hoping it isn’t too long a project but it will be what it is and I’m sure the new deck will be lovely. If it were our place, I’d be paying for a wrap around deck on the front…man, that would be nice.

Had a great visit with my cousins, Nathan and Andrew and Andrew’s girlfriend, Mindy last night. They came over along with my folks to visit and have Sawatdy’s Thai food. It was heavenly, I just love that stuff. It was great to see them, too, it’s been so long since we’ve seen Andrew. It was past the boy’s bedtime but they got to see them for a little bit anyway.

Got my shopping done for the day, hate to say it’s a highlight, but I did get a great deal on diapers ($5.49 for Pampers jumbo pack…for those of you who know, that’s a steal!). All in all it was a good shopping day.

We just got home from Kit O’Connor’s 80th birthday party. It was neat to see 4 generations of their family in the same room. You don’t see that too often. The party was at Finch Place, a senior apartment building where Dee does maintenence work, so alot of Dee’s ladies were there to visit with. THey just love seeing the boys.

Tomorrow should be a big day, I’m taking the boys to the zoo!

A few pictures from the past…thought that would be fun. Got to hang out with Krista (one of my former softball players) and her daugther, Grace, today. It was so nice to see them and Grace is just adorable. We took the kids to the Children’s Museum and they had a blast. Carlos is getting his 2 year molars and really having issues with them. We didn’t get to stay too long before the kids were hungry.

Just hung out the rest of the day and then my folks and Caroline came over for dinner. It was nice just have a mellow dinner, no fuss.

Gotta get up early tomorrow morning and head to a garage sale and then to Port Orchard to pick up a box of kid’s clothes I got a deal on. Dee’s got to work in the morning and then we are going to our friend Kit’s 80th birthday party. She just loves the boys so it’ll be fun to see her and celebrate her big day.

Carlos got to go to Nana’s school and play yesterday and he felt like such a big boy. He was so happy and talking about it non-stop. I think him getting some time away from mamas is good for him, and he feels so comfortable with Nana that it worked out well. We’re hoping he can go again soon, especially when Levi and Alice start preschool in the fall.

We went to a foster parent meeting last night, the speaker talked about grief. I think that’s an important topic not just for foster parents (who lose kids who come and go) but for the older kids who are taken from their families and put into foster homes. They need to greive and I would imagine that a lot are having a hard time with that and fantasize about their homelife. It was interesting to listen to anyhow.

Some thoughts on gay marriage…it’s hard for me to understand how the Washington state legislature can honestly think the following “…because the legislature was entitled to believe that limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples furthers procreation, essential to survival of the human race, and furthers the well-being of children by encouraging families where children are reared in homes headed by the children’s biological parents. ” Crazy! But heaven forbid that two loving people of the same sex) get together and decide to raise a family and love the kids with all their hearts. That would be wrong I guess.

So today we went to playgroup and then met up with Dee to have lunch in the park. It was great, the kids had a ball and there were no dishes to clean up. Everyone came home and napped and we’re just waiting for Alice to wake up so we can go outside and play.

Just going to mellow tonight…sounds good to me!

Some thoughts for the day as I sit here and try to keep my cool while Carlos goofs around in his room instead of going to sleep.

My next house will have no kitchen – just vending machines and a large trash can.

Advice for the day: If you have a lot of tension and you
get a headache, do what it says on the aspirin bottle:
“Take two aspirin” and “Keep away from children.”

“Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant?? I’m
halfway through my fish burger and I realize, Oh my God….
I could be eating a slow learner.”

It’s been a long weekend…we’re all tired from the heat and all but it’s been really a fun, relaxing one. Just what we needed to recoop after baby Camden and being sick and all.

Caroline came over and had dinner with us and then we all went out and washed the cars. The kids thought it was a blast to help mamas and Caroline took lots of pictures while we scrubbed. I got a new sticker for the back of my car, it’s corny but I love it. Our family. Dee had a Brittany Spears moment and let Carlos drive the truck around the yard (ok, so he isn’t an infant and it wasn’t on the highway…). He thought that was just about the coolest thing ever as you will see by his grin.

We’re all beat…nite nite!

Here are some pictures from the beach yesterday….what a great spot!

The baby has a new home…that’s right, we are now back to our little family of 5. It feels nice to be back to just our boys, although it really was nice to have baby snuggle time again. There’s just something great about holding a newborn. Baby’s relative came last night and was so happy to have him. That’s the part about foster parenting that I like, when you feel good about where the baby is going. They really were excited, she has kids at home and lots of relatives around who just can’t wait to see Baby and be a part of his life. We were blessed to be a part of his life for this short time, he will be missed for sure, it’s always hard to say goodbye.

Dee and I celebrated our 4th anniversary on Thursday night by going out to eat. I can’t believe how different our lives are now from 4 years ago in Vegas. What a trip, though, and I would love to repeat it someday. Sipping margaritas and watching the Bellagio fountains, ahhhhh. The heat here is a reminder of Vegas for sure, but we just don’t have anywhere air conditioned and cool to come inside to.

We set up the kiddie pool yesterday and turned on the sprinkler and the boys had a blast playing in the water. We got the paints and paper out and they created masterpieces out in the lawn. Carlos was covered in paint by the time we were done.

We’re off to the beach with Nana and Papa today (after garage sales and naps) and then over to their place for dinner. Should be a fun dady…just trying to stay cool. 🙂

Let me tell you one thing…STOMACH FLU is really not fun. It hit me night before last and I was basically worthless all yesterday. I’m feeling better today, not 100% or anything but better.

Allie is here visiting and I was so glad she came along with me to Bremerton. We got to stop at Value Village and Big Lots but didnt find any great deals. Apparently Value Village has changed their pricing so now it’s expensive (talking $6.99 for a pair of toddler Nikes….no way). I miss Allie being around, she’s one cool chick! Anyhow, she’s sitting with Trey right now reading a book, it’s very sweet.

Off to feed the little one….

It looks like our little friend, Baby, will be leaving on Thursday. He’s going to be going to a relative so that will be good for him. I have to take him to a visit with his parents on Wednesday so hopefully that will go well. It’s been fun having baby time but it’ll be nice to get some sleep, too.

We had a really nice dinner with my parents tonight that capped off a rather hectic day. Started off last night with Carlos being up from around 2am-5am. I don’t quite know what his issue was, I think it was teething, but he wasn’t happy and I ended up laying in his bed with him until we both fell asleep. We got going in the morning and my mom and I took the kids to playgroup, I took Camden to his well child checkup and then came home for lunch. Turns out Trey swallowed a plum seed…that’s not a good thing. Anyhow, he didn’t choke but it did bring out the paramedics and now we wait and keep our fingers crossed that it passes with ease.

Tomorrow’s another day…let’s hope the boys sleep hard tonight so mamas can get a little rest.

We have another baby in the house! Got the call yesterday asking if we would do short-term care for a week old baby boy. Since it’s only for a short time, we said yes. He’s adorable and really an easy baby so far. He eats every 3 hours like clockwork and then falls right to sleep. When he’s awake, he’s just quiet and looking around at us but very alert. It’s fun to have baby time again, but it’s also totally different knowing he’ll be going soon. It’s interesting to see the reaction of our boys, Levi went with me to the hospital but he doesn’t really seem to notice him too much, Trey is going along as if nothings different, but Carlos LOVES this little one. When one of us are holding him, Carlos will crawl up and lay next to him and kiss his hand.

Speaking of Carlos…he has been eating lots of pie cherries off the tree the last couple days and we’ve been trying to stop him, but without success. He’s determined! Yesterday afternoon the cherries fought back, he was riding with Dee to Ace and on the way home he lost it. I got a call saying “put the baby down and come out to the truck with a towel”. It was nasty. He was running a slight fever as well, but that disappeared shortly and he was starting to feel better by bedtime.

We got to have a semi-night out last night…we went to the Treehouse Cafe with Lori and Caiti Kruse, Patti and Jeanie and Jeanie’s kids Margie and Stephen. I say “semi” night out because we took Carlos and Camden along with us so it wasn’t really relaxing per se but it was really fun to see our friends and be out to eat.

I’m off to a consignment sale this morning and then Dee’s going to play in the shop with Patti. May be going to a gospel concert tonight, I know I’ll enjoy it and I think the boys will, too.