Well, we are here and settling in. We are mostly unpacked. James found us a nice place on some beautiful acreage that we are renting. The weather is WONDERFUL so far. I love the absence of snow. The kids have lots of fun exploring our land. The other day we went on a walk in our "yard" and found a skull...I think it was from a deer. Also saw a deer running through our front yard. We saw a hawk right above our head. There were also some mussel shells by our pond (from our pond?). We even watched a spider capture a fly in our window. Charles was fascinated; Emma was grossed out. I think it is a kid's wonderland.
Cute saying by Charles: As we were driving down here, we were probably about half an hour away from reaching our new home and the sun was setting. Charles commented, "The sun casts a rosy glow." How cute is that?
We were able to have Christmas with my family, which was nice. The biggest bummer was that James started getting sick on Christmas Eve and it was in full force by mid-day on Christmas. He's still not feeling great, but he's doing better than he was last night.
We are loving Texas. It is beautiful, nice to be near family, nice to be back with James again. The only sad thing for us is that Charity isn't with us. They decided to try to reunify her with her dad, so the week before we moved, she went back to him. We are happy for him, but we miss her a ton. We just pray that everything will work out how it is best for her.
Emma was in The Nutcracker over Thanksgiving weekend. She did really well, and had a lot of fun. We hope that we can find a decent ballet school here. There are lots of things she would like to do, but if she could only pick one thing, she would choose ballet.
That's all I can think of. Bye for now, Y'all!
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Pictures
Emma's haircut
My girls
Charles feeding Charity
Emma's first decorated cake
Charles raking the few leaves we have
Jaqueline imitating Mom
Maya and Jaqueline
Charles and Emma at the Treehouse Museum
Charles and Emma at the Pumpkin Walk
Charity poking her tongue out (probably spitting)
Charity going potty on the toilet
Monday, November 15, 2010
We are moving
James is flying in on December 8. Things are still not settled with baby Charity, so we will have to leave her here and trust that things will work out the way they are supposed to.
In October, Emma was in a play called Giving up the Ghosts. It was a production of the local children's theater. She had a lot of fun in that.
Over Thanksgiving weekend Emma will be in Cache Valley Civic Ballet's production of The Nutcracker. She is a party girl. She has loved going to rehersals, and she is super excited for the production.
Emma also went to our neighbor's home last week and learned how to decorate cakes. She did quite well on her first one.
I still haven't found the cord to connect the camera to the computer (still haven't looked very hard), but since my room will be getting packed soon, I should find it then, and should get some pictures up (we can hope).
In October, Emma was in a play called Giving up the Ghosts. It was a production of the local children's theater. She had a lot of fun in that.
Over Thanksgiving weekend Emma will be in Cache Valley Civic Ballet's production of The Nutcracker. She is a party girl. She has loved going to rehersals, and she is super excited for the production.
Emma also went to our neighbor's home last week and learned how to decorate cakes. She did quite well on her first one.
I still haven't found the cord to connect the camera to the computer (still haven't looked very hard), but since my room will be getting packed soon, I should find it then, and should get some pictures up (we can hope).
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Many changes again...
So I can't currently find the cord to hook my camera up to the computer (not that I've looked too hard), so you all will have to do without pictures for a little longer. Here are the updates:
1. Charles is back. He came back toward the end of last month and the plan is that he will stay here with me until we all move.
2. James has a new job. He is working at Chase bank, and enjoying it quite a bit so far.
3. Jaqueline and Maya went home to their dad for their 90-day trial home visit on July 31. They seem to be doing well so far. I saw them yesterday for the first time since they left. Jaqueline wanted to do almost nothing but sit in my lap, but I think Maya was mad at me for abandoning her so she ignored me most of the time. Sad. We've been doing well since they left - it's been much quieter around here- but we mostly just try not to think about it too much. They both had their birthdays this month, so they were both 2 at the same time for about half a month.
4. Baby Charity is doing well. She is 5 months old and now weighs almost 13 pounds - small, but healthy. Her dad seems to be doing well, and should he continue to do well, she will probably be transitioning to him in October or November, which means that...
5. We're probably going to still be here until November. At least, that is the current understanding. If I am still here and it snows, I may have to pull all of my hair out!
6. We homeschool, and this year decided to try doing K12, which can be (and is, in our case) public school from home. We are trying it for Emma, who is in 4th grade. We have been at it for almost 2 weeks now. It was a lot to figure out at first, but we are finally getting it down. It was tough the first week, but I think that now that Emma and I have started figuring it out, we are enjoying it more. It is more intense than we have done in the past, but I think that is okay.
7. Charles is not doing K12. We are still on low intensity for him since we are mostly focusing on getting Emma started, but once we get her going a little more, I will focus on him more. He just turned 5 in June. He is getting better at recognizing letters and numbers, saying letter sounds, building things, doing puzzles, drawing shapes, tying knots, and spelling his name. He is also getting better at trying to not get frustrated so easily when things are difficult for him.
8. Emma took private swimming lessons this summer, and has gone from being a dog-paddler to a real swimmer. She loves to swim.
9. We also chopped Emma's hair. It is just above her shoulders in an a-line. She likes having it short.
Those are the main updates I can think of right now. I'll try to get around to posting pictures in the not-too-far future.
1. Charles is back. He came back toward the end of last month and the plan is that he will stay here with me until we all move.
2. James has a new job. He is working at Chase bank, and enjoying it quite a bit so far.
3. Jaqueline and Maya went home to their dad for their 90-day trial home visit on July 31. They seem to be doing well so far. I saw them yesterday for the first time since they left. Jaqueline wanted to do almost nothing but sit in my lap, but I think Maya was mad at me for abandoning her so she ignored me most of the time. Sad. We've been doing well since they left - it's been much quieter around here- but we mostly just try not to think about it too much. They both had their birthdays this month, so they were both 2 at the same time for about half a month.
4. Baby Charity is doing well. She is 5 months old and now weighs almost 13 pounds - small, but healthy. Her dad seems to be doing well, and should he continue to do well, she will probably be transitioning to him in October or November, which means that...
5. We're probably going to still be here until November. At least, that is the current understanding. If I am still here and it snows, I may have to pull all of my hair out!
6. We homeschool, and this year decided to try doing K12, which can be (and is, in our case) public school from home. We are trying it for Emma, who is in 4th grade. We have been at it for almost 2 weeks now. It was a lot to figure out at first, but we are finally getting it down. It was tough the first week, but I think that now that Emma and I have started figuring it out, we are enjoying it more. It is more intense than we have done in the past, but I think that is okay.
7. Charles is not doing K12. We are still on low intensity for him since we are mostly focusing on getting Emma started, but once we get her going a little more, I will focus on him more. He just turned 5 in June. He is getting better at recognizing letters and numbers, saying letter sounds, building things, doing puzzles, drawing shapes, tying knots, and spelling his name. He is also getting better at trying to not get frustrated so easily when things are difficult for him.
8. Emma took private swimming lessons this summer, and has gone from being a dog-paddler to a real swimmer. She loves to swim.
9. We also chopped Emma's hair. It is just above her shoulders in an a-line. She likes having it short.
Those are the main updates I can think of right now. I'll try to get around to posting pictures in the not-too-far future.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Our latest news
We have a new foster daughter! She is Jaqueline and Maya's baby sister and she was born on March 18. What a doll!
Here is Emma with a friend from the Firebird ballet. They were Babushka dolls. She did a great job, and totally enjoyed herself. James was here for a week, so I was able to break away from the kids and be a parent helper. That is always a fun job, and a great chance for me to spend quality time with Emma.
While James was here he got a chance to play a lot with the kids. They especially enjoyed playing ball. Charles was hitting the ball fairly consistently. The kids sure love their dad! Charles has been missing him, and we were planning on having him possibly join James in May, but with the new baby here, we decided last minute to have him go with James back to Texas now, so last Tuesday they flew out there. Charles loved flying in a plane and he has been having a blast with all of his cousins.
According to James, Texas is already in full bloom. Yeah. And it SNOWED here! Totally unfair!
Monday, February 22, 2010
My amazing daughter...
So, Emma is a chef as well as a dancer and a seamstress. I just finished eating lunch, which Emma made with supervision but very little help. She made homemade pasta and deviled eggs. It was delicious. She loves to cook, and I have a hard time keeping her out of the kitchen.
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