Big Announcement

I have a big announcement to make. Jim and I are becoming foster parents to a 15-year-old girl that we met last summer on the youth trip we chaperoned for church. Her name is Brandi and for some reason we made a connection with her. We since learned her story and found out that she has been in the foster care system for the past 6 years ever since she was abandoned by both her parents. Her mother is in prison and her father is not in the least father material. She has been in numerous foster homes and she is currently placed in the Methodist girls home.

It has been a long process with lots of prayers and thoughts leading up to this decision. I feel that God placed Jim and I on that youth trip for this reason and we are supposed to take this girl in. But that doesn't mean that I don't have a lot of fears and reservations about the whole thing. There has been so many times that I have wondered what in the world are we doing? How is this going to affect Jack? How is this going to affect our family? Can I handle being the foster parent of a troubled teenage girl? Am I ready for this commitment?

Tomorrow is the home study and if all goes well, she should be placed in our home within the next week. I am scared, excited, nervous, thoughtful and prayerful all at the same time. I'll keep ya posted on how it goes.

Christmas Hits

I thought I would share with you the top Christmas gifts this year. There really weren't that many misses this year, mainly because we kept it simple this year and thankfully so did the rest of the family.

My favorite present is the Melissa & Doug easel if nothing but it saves us hundreds of pages of computer paper. Now when the boy wants to express his artistic self, he just has to go to his easel and draw his little heart out and NOT to our printer paper tray. The easel is set up in our office by the window just like a real artist's corner and all. I do need to get the accessories for it like the roll of paper and paint cups and what not, but right now he is happy with the dry erase part of it.
The second present was from Laura and again utilitzes his artistic abilities - digitally. It is the Fisher Price Arts and Crafts Digital Studio. All I have to do is hook it up to my laptop and he sits there and does all kinds of cool things. It keeps him occupied for like an hour or more at a time, which is always a plus.

And the third present is the Fisher Price Kid Tough Camera. This camera is actually a pretty nice camera, considering its a kid's "toy". It is very easy for Jack to use and he goes around snapping pictures all day long of the rug, wall, dogs, and whatever else he sees. You can download the pictures just like a regular camera. And there is a way you can hook it up to the Arts and Crafts Studio above and add cool effects to your pictures. I haven't done that yet, but soon.

So there is my review of the top 3 gifts this Christmas season. He also got a real accoustic guitar from Santa, but I am thinking that we need to look into guitar lessons for him soon since he has a real desire to learn how to play.

We also now are a video game household, something I said we would never be. A friend gave us his old Playstation 2 game system with a bunch of games. Right now the favored and current addiction of the boy is Cars where he can race Lightening McQueen all over the place.

A Good Problem To Have

I think that I have mentioned on here that we have friends who hand down clothes for Jack. It is such a money saver, since the only thing that I have bought him to wear in the last year is three polo shirts for school, underwear, two pair of shoes, and two Disney t-shirts on clearance. I am so grateful to our friends for this. Well last night, Jim brought home a huge bag full of clothes from the police station. I tell you, this kid has more clothes than me and Jim put together. I have his closet full of clothes. All six drawers in his dresser are full. And I have overflow, out-of-season clothes in the guest bedroom! I am running out of space for this kid's clothes. And they are really nice clothes, even better than I would have bought for the boy if I were the one buying.

So yes, it is a nice problem to have. Thank you Leslee and Trevor for sharing!

Is It Really Only Thursday?

Only Thursday? Really? Because I couldn't tell ya what I did each day this week except feel awful. I went to the doctor yesterday simply because I did not want this thing to turn into a month-long thing like I had last fall. So I told him fever, blah blah, coughing, blah blah, body aches, blah blah. He said that he didn't think I had the actual flu virus, but probably just a head cold because "the flu is really bad" and I guess in his eyes I wasn't "really bad"?? But he did a flu wash to find out anyway, which by the way, is really kinda gross to do. I have never had that done before. He sent me home with some cough medicine, sudafed, and nasal spray.

At 6:00 last night, he called back and said the lab results came back and yes indeed it was Type A flu virus. Even though I did have the flu shot, I still got the flu! He said that the flu shot probably made it weakened, but still! So it seems that Jack, Jim and I all got the flu probably sometime while in Disney. There was one time that this guy did a huge sneeze right in front of us and didn't even try to cover it. I thought at the time "EWWWW", now I wonder if he graciously gave us the crud. Laura, who also had the flu mist, did not get the flu thankfully. Jim and Jack did not get the flu shots. I tried to get Jack his, but they were all out of the pediatric ones by the time we went there.

Poor Jim has had to be in training all this week for Criminal Scene Unit. Yes, he is going to be a real life CSI cop. But he couldn't miss the training, despite the flu.

Thankfully, we are slowly getting back to normal. Jack has been back to school the last two days, although now I feel guilty because his teacher was out sick today with a fever. Uhoh. Jim is feeling better and just today I think I might feel better. But I am following the Doctor's orders and resting today while Jack is in school this morning.

It is cold here, well not as cold as some of you up north, but none the less, cold. It was in the 20's last night and tonight is supposed to be in the teens. I am really wondering about sending Jack to play soccer on Saturday with the temps in the 20's. Especially after getting over the flu. Poor kid, he has played one game out of four so far this season. But that is what you get when you schedule the season for December through February!

The Never-Ending Flu

Whatever this is called, flu or Hell, it is bad. Poor Jack is going on the sixth straight day of having a fever. He went to school yesterday because he managed to go all night without the fever, but when I picked him up, I could tell he felt bad and sure enough, he had a 101 fever. And he was up (and me) most of the night groaning and coughing. So no school today. I am calling the doctor again today because he just took his last dose of Zithromax antibiotics and it doesn't seem like it has done a whole lot for him. So here we are again, shut inside watching tv. Seriously one can watch Garfield only so many times before you go insane. I am close.

As far as me and Jim. I think I got off with a light case of the stuff in comparison to Jim and Jack, thanks to my flu shot I think. I have a cough and feel lousy but I think that has more to do with having very little sleep and if I could just get a good nights sleep, it would make me feel a lot better. Jim seems to be getting better, but not really. He still has a fever, but is in training all this week for work and can't allow himself to take anytime off.

Oh and my house looks like a hurricane hit it with various medicine bottles strewn all over the kitchen counters and blankets and pillows all over the family room. Ugh.

Not going to answer the phone anymore

I have decided that answering our home phone is just an invitation to grief. To make a long story short, when we moved our cell phones from AT&T to Sprint, we did it on the very day that our contract was up. I called that day and talked to AT&T and they said that it was okay to end our service without incurring any more charges. Well that was back in September. Lo and behold with no warning or anything we get a letter from a collection agency saying we owe over $600 to AT&T!!! What? I was so mad that Jim decided it best that he called them. Well after a few phone calls here and there and a couple of days, we got it all straightened out. Seems that we still had 8 hours left on our contract and they were charging us for early termination fees. Don't think so. They finally fessed up and said we did not owe anything. However, their sharks, err the collection agency, did not get the memo and are still after us. Calling every single day. Many times a day. And when we do talk to them, they are downright nasty. And we don't even owe the damn thing! We are this close to getting an attorney.

Well anyway, on top of all that, I just got a phone call from yet another collection agency asking for Jim. Again another nasty person on the other end (do they take nasty tests to get the job?) and said that Jim has defaulted on his XXXX credit card. I am all HUH? He mentioned something about owing $4500 and $2800 on two cards. I tell him that I had no idea what he is talking about. He is extremely nasty and says that we HAVE to pay these balances. I am telling him I don't know what he is talking about. We pay our bills. He then asks me if our address is such and such. Um no never lived at that address. Oh is your husband's middle name Wendell? Um that would be NO also. It wasn't even our debt! Just another guy named James Clayton they are trying to find and is going through the white pages for every James Clayton? And treating them like dog poo? At the end, he literally said "I guess I have the wrong number" and hung up! No apology no nothing. No sorry for me thinking my husband went out and ran up two credit cards with no payment. No sorry for the possible divorce! Just "oops wrong number".

I am giving up answering the phone.

Our Turn

It seems that Jack decided to share his sickies with his mother and father. I woke up this morning feeling that wonderful achy, chills, fever, with a cough feeling. Jim walked in this morning from working all night and said first thing "you sick too?". Yep both of us got the crud. Joy. Joy.

As for Jack, he hasn't had a fever since late yesterday afternoon when he had a 102.8. He seems to be feeling much better almost back to his energetic self. But with the latest development of Jim and me, it looks like another day of staying in. No church for us today. I figure if this stuff is that contagious, I really shouldn't be spreading it to the entire congregation.

Lazy Saturday

We here in the Jackaroo World are having a lazy Saturday. Jack has been sick and we ended up taking him to the ER yesterday because I couldn't get him into see the doctor for two days and they told me to take him to the ER. Thank goodness for free military medical. Long story short, he has the flu, which makes me upset because I tried to get him a flu shot, but they were all out of the peds shots. Hopefully my flu shot sticks and it doesn't spread to me.

But after two doses of antibiotics, the kid is already feeling better and was dancing to the Jonas Brothers on tv this morning. He is supposed to have a soccer game today, but I am obviously not taking him there today. I am kind of relieved that he is not going to be playing because it rained in biblical proportions last night and I can just imagine what that soccer field is like. One huge muddy mess. Yuck.

So now Jack is watching Disney channel, and I am web surfing. The laundry is calling, but it can just keep calling for a bit more I think.

Pictures on the Beach

After last year's horrible fiasco with Sears pictures, I decided that this year's family picture would be something different. I met a friend last summer who is an amazing photographer and decided that she was going to do our pictures this year. So today we went to the beach and she took our pictures and they turned out great. She just emailed me a 88 pictures to choose from and now the hard part is choosing which ones I want. I will post them as soon as I get them.

After the pictures, we went to lunch and upon coming home Jack threw up all over the driveway. Nice. So we have a very sick boy with a high fever. Fun times.

But that didn't stop Laura and I from going to get our massages that we scheduled yesterday. It has been like three years since I have had a massage and it felt so good. Much more relaxed to deal with a sick Jack. The key to motherhood might just be more massages!

Disney 2009 Recap

We got back from our Disney World trip last night. It was a whirlwind trip of three days in the parks. We did three parks in three days, exhausting to say the least, but fun.

The big news is that for the first time in 7 trips to Disneyland/world, we did not have to use a stroller! Jack was quite the trooper and walked all over three parks for three days with absolutely no whining. There were times when I wanted to whine about my feet, but he just kept going and going. And what freedom it is to have no stroller to have to worry about it all the time. Loved it.

The other big news is that Jack rode all the big rides that he could. He rode Tower of Terror, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain and Expedition Everest, which there were many adults who looked at that and said no way. I was very proud of him for getting on despite his fears. And of course, after he got off each ride, he would exclaim "That was totally awesome!". There was one ride that he did not say that however, and it was the Dinosaur ride in the Animal Kingdom. The poor child was terrified of dinosaurs to begin with, but after that ride, he will never even utter the dinosaur word ever again.

We stayed at Shades of Green again and I just have to say that I LOVE that place. We had poolside room where all we had to open up our sliding glass door and walk 30 feet to the pool. It was so nice and the kids took advantage of the pool every single night. I took advantage of the wonderful hot tub next to the pool. Ahhh. Pure Bliss after a long day in the parks.

We had planned to take a couple of years off before going back to Disney, however, just last week, Disney came out with an amazing promotion for retired military that we just can not pass up. Jim gets a free five-day park hopper and we can purchase five 5-day tickets for only $99 each. That is like a savings of over $1000! So just tonight, I made reservations to go back to Shades of Green in June after Laura gets here for the summer. Couldn't pass that deal up at all.

Below are a few of the many pictures I took while there.

Jack and Laura with the Mickey statue in the Shades of Green hotel.

One of the nights in the pool.

On the bus to Hollywood Studios.

The first day was at Hollywood Studios. This show was simply amazing.

Waiting for the parade to start. You should of seen the gooey mess from the melting popsicle that poor Jim had to endure.

We saw the show, Fantasmic, for the first time. I have to say that this was my favorite part in all of Disney. The show is stunning.

The second day we went to the Magic Kingdom. Here is Jack and Laura in the car. Jack was quite a crazy driver.

Jack studying the map figuring out our next move.

We had lunch at the Crystal Palace with the Pooh characters. That is a very nice restaurant, a place we had never been before.

A really pretty picture of the castle. Notice the blue skies. We had absolutely perfect weather everyday with the temp in the high 70's. Perfect.

Another really pretty picture of the castle at night. I do not believe that I have ever seen the castle lit up all diamondy like this before. It was absolutely beautiful. I am still a kid when I see the castle. It is pure magic.

The third day we went to the Animal Kingdom, which was a more laid-back day compared to the Magic Kingdom. That is if you can call waiting in line for 30 minutes to ride Expedition Everest where you plunge down a mountain and go backwards super fast as laid back. But it was all fun. Here we are all dressed in our ponchos about to ride the river rapids ride. Dontcha just love the fashion statement. Cute.

Our last hurrah was the Lion King show, which is spectacular. At the end, they pulled a few kids out of the audience to join them in the grande finale number and Jack was among them. He got quite a kick out of being in the show.

Happy New Year! ... Do you have a Tylenol?

Well we did our annual New Year's bash with our friends. And again it was quite the bash, however nobody got drunk enough to puke in our guest bedroom. Thank goodness.

It was good to get with these people. I haven't really been spending a lot of time with them in the last couple of months as I have been wanting to be kinda anti-social (as you can tell by the lack of posting.) The highlight of the evening was the firework display out in our cul-de-sac that seriously would have rivaled Disney's firework display. It was pretty cool. Unfortunately Jim couldn't see it because he was working last night having fun with all the drunks on the road.

Speaking of Disney, we leave for Disney World tomorrow morning. We will be in the parks for three days. We are getting all excited for the trip. Again poor Jim has to work tonight, so as soon as he gets home in the morning, we will be piling him and the kids into the car and I will drive toward Florida.

But in the meantime, I seriously need to do some work to get us all packed. I have not even begun to think about packing and before I do that I need to do no less than 4 loads of laundry. We have no food in the house, so I probably should go out to the store sometime and get actually food so that kids have something else to eat than Cheetos, which they are eating right now for breakfast. Yes, you can send my name in for mother of the year any time.

One of my resolutions is to post more this year. My posting in 2008 was very lacking and I plan to change that.