Looks like we’ll have another little visitor for a couple of days…a little 4 month old girl. Don’t know her name, it’s just a respite (watching the baby for another foster family) placement. We’ve told the state that in emergencies we’re happy to take on a baby that needs a place for short term. We’ll see how that goes. Short term is the key word.

I got a new toy today! A Creative Zen Vision:M 30gb mp3 player. It’s super cool, my old mp3 player didn’t survive the boys. It’s pretty amazing that it can keep 15,000 songs plus videos, photos, a calendar, etc. The part that I’m excited about is the microphone. Dee and I have been wanting to record stories to put on CD for the boys to listen to at bedtime and this way we’ll be able to do it. Anyhow, new toys are fun and since I’ve worked some extra hours I splurged. Got a great deal on it, though, too! Its not often I buy something for me, it’s indulgent!

Had a great time at Alisa and Holly’s place tonight. We made s’mores at their firepit and got to spend some time with Alisa, Holly, David and Conrad, Patti and Jeanie and Kathy. Lots of friends and good conversation. All in all a very pleasant eveing. We had to leave, Trey was tired and we all know that when Trey’s done, we leave!

Seriously can’t believe that our Portland trip is so close! Two more days, two more days!

It started out as a crazy day…I had 7 kids here (ages 3 and under) and they were hyped up for sure. It was fun and the time flew by, but I was beat by the time they went home. Good thing it was naptime.

Anyhow, I decided that I’d do some touch up painting. I got our bedroom done, the living room and the hallway. I messed up the hallway, though, and touched up with the wrong color. It’s close but it looks funky now that I messed it up. Guess I have more work to do with the painting.

Had a great visit with Beth and her girls and Mary and Megan (their friends). They brought pizza and hung out. I sure do miss Beth and Bert being closer. It’s always good to see them and it feels like no time has gone by when we see eachother. The boys make it tough to really chat about things, they are too busy showing off for our guests. Now if we could just get Bert to hop on a plane and come see us….

It’s a sad day here, we lost Pandora (Dee’s cat)…Dee had her for the last 12 years so it was especially tough for her. We don’t quite know what happened, just know that something got her in the field. She was a feisty little cat but really sweet and gentle the last year with the boys, a total change in personality from when she would only let Dee near her. She will be missed for sure, but is now buried near our plum tree in the shade (and under the bird houses so she will be happy!).

It was a pretty mellow weekend, Dee’s been working on the deck and it’s really taking shape and looking good. I took the big boys down to the beach and they played for awhile before naptime. Got some gardening done and then watched another little foster guy and he was GIGANTIC. A 7 month old baby that weighs 25 pounds…and here I thought Trey was big. This baby has fat rolls on his fat rolls, it’s just not healthy but he’s not my baby!

One more week and we take the boys on the train to Portland! YIPPEE! I’m so looking forward to that trip. It’ll be a fun week…Foster Parent Dinner Monday night, Beth and the girls are coming to see us on Tuesday night and I really can’t wait to see them, Wednesday we have a BBQ with some friends. Busy start of the week but lots to look forward to!

These are too funny…had to share. Who knew Clinton, Bush and Colin Powell would look this way in drag!?

This is Levi’s doctor…we really liked him and so did Levi. He’s great with kids and makes them feel so comfortable. He does remind me a bit of Urkel….lol…oh well, he’s good at what he does.

Levi’s doing great today, he spent most the day on the couch (mom’s orders) and I think the hardest part now is going to be keeping him mellow for the next week. It’s been 1 day and already it’s tough.

Hoping for a kick back weekend, we really have no plans so it shouldn’t be real tough.

Ok, folks…here’s the before and after pics from Levi’s surgery. Not the up close and personal pictures (we didn’t take any of those…poor boy needs his dignity!) but “on the happy juice” is the first picture and just post-surgery is the second. Poor little guy. Started out having a good day with mamas, had the happy juice and got really silly. Dee and I were cracking up with him. We had a bite to eat while he was in surgery and then saw him about 2 hours later. It’s so hard to see your baby in so much pain. The meds really helped and fast but it took him quite awhile to relax a little on my lap. Carrying him to the car wasn’t fun, it was painful for him. But he got into his carseat and went to sleep pretty quickly. Got him home and let him hang out on the couch until dinner time. He ate a little then went to bed easily. Hoping it’s not too rough a night for the little guy. Think happy thoughts for a speedy recovery!!!

Got Trey’s 1 year old picture done today….click the link if you want to see them. http://www.picturepeople.com/viewsharedalbum.aspx?SharedPictureGroupID=1264428&ShareKey=2311220c617f4ad5997ac7ac7cfc6350

We like the one where he’s standing up the best, but they are all cute. He’s such a ham!

Levi’s surgery is scheduled for 10:30 tomorrow morning. We’ve been talking to him about it and explaining a little about what’s going to happen and he’s nervous but it’ll all be ok. Children’s is so great and he’ll have total mama day that I think all in all it’ll be a good day for him, despite the surgery.

Kids are up…time to finish the day. Patti and Jeanie are coming over for pizza tonight so that’ll be fun. The boys slept through my parents visit (thanks for the clothes, mom!) but will get to see them tomorrow.

So here’s the story…the zoo trip was fun, with 2 adults (me and Carolyn) and 9 children. Seriously, we were outnumbered! You can’t see all the kids in the picture, but there were 8 carseats in the van! Amazing we all fit in one vehicle. But, the kids all were great and had a blast at the zoo. Carlos was infatuated with the beluga whales and tigers, Trey was happy hanging out in the stroller and seeing all the people and animals and Levi really liked watching the funny monkeys. We had a picnic afterwards, too, which was fun.

Still working on the deck issue…basically when Dee ripped up the rotten deck we found some structural damage underneath the house. So, that needs to be fixed before our dining room collapses and then we can rebuild the deck. Hopefully it won’t take too long to do, I miss having a front porch.

Not sure if Nate and Connor are coming today, if so we’ll hang out outside while the work’s being done and if they aren’t, we’ll head to the free movies to get away for awhile. I’m dreading naptime with all the hammering. Good times!

My folks come back from their trip to Leavenworth today and we’re hoping they bring some fresh Eastern Washington fruit. Yum!

We booked our train trip to Portland last night, I’m so excited. We’ll be taking Levi and Carlos with us since they will really love the train. I got a great deal on Priceline to stay at the Downtown Hilton for $85. Always looking for a deal!