What me & my new sewing Machine have been up to...

Torina wanted me to share what I've been up to with my new sewing machine.This is:

Red cow Barn Quilt. click on the picture for more detail. It's very colorful and he loves it.

Red Cow Barn Quilt (with David) This is my first major work. I've made a few pillow cases & aprons. But David luuuvvvs Red Cow BArns, why I have no idea. Oh, and I made him a red cow barn pillow case to kinda match his quilt.

The Boy had his surgery today and I tell you God has truly blessed us as far as his comfort and pain level. He's done so well today. Almost as though nothing happened. Tomorrow may be a different day. But the good Dr. gave us some nice pain meds.

Do you know Who YOUR mama is?...

I am not an in your face , oh look at me, I have adopted children. We are pretty low key people. We've known people for years who didn't know one of our daughters was adopted.
And I realize,like my friend Min it is obvious you have adopted children, it is a reality in your day to day life. I'm not talking about that.
I know people whose whole identity is wrapped up in. To me, my children are only adopted until the court date. Then you're all mine, baby. Birth Certificate says so. Then we just live our lives like any other family you might know. My kid, lock, stock and barrel. So we don't talk adoption day in and day out. It will and does have it's place and time. (This ain't my first go round)
So I say that to say my 2 1/2 yr. old does not know a thing about adoption. He only knows what any other 2 1/2 yr old knows....He knows who his mama & daddy is. PERIOD. Me-Mama, He-Daddy. Boy named David has a mama & daddy who loves him & spoils him stinking rotten.
I ran into a friend from work, who knows The Boy is adopted. We were talking foster care because she is interested in foster to adopt because of infertility issues, ect. She had a friend with her I did not know, but who picked up on the fact that The Boy was adopted. Now my son is small for his age, but he is very smart, (if I do say so myself) He understand what is being said around him. In a lull in the conversation, she said, "Poor thing, does he know who his mama is?".......chirp....chirp...chirp. The boy looked at her and said, "Her, my Mama!" Pointing to me.
Trust me people, what he had to say was a WHOLE LOT more Christ Like, than what crossed my mind for the next 2 hours. What I did say was, "Evidently, he knows his mama".
What I wanted so desperately to say was: "Listen lady, spitting out a kid you don't want or will not take care of, does not a mama make." It especially does not make you a mama if you abandon 2 babies in 2 years and never look back.
Who says that in front of a 2 1/2 yr old?
Sometimes I just shake my head at how many stupid people there are in the world. This person had a master's degree in Social Work....shake your head some more now.

This & That & Boring Stuff

Boy, is this what life before foster care was like?
It's kind of boring around here! I never thought I'd say that in a million years.
My phones (cell & home) have been silent. No one calls me anymore. At least when I have kids I know someone will call me, EVERYDAY.
David's surgery has been rescheduled for the 29th. Nothing like getting all ready for surgery, just to have them call the night before to cancel. Something stupid, like the Dr. having an emergency surgery. Like my baby's circumcision isn't an emergency. (read sarcasm here) I know what it's like to have to call the patient, so I was nice to her. But I was hoping to be REALLY into potty training by the 29th. We were putting off the serious stuff until after the surgery, for obvious reasons :)
The Girl is doing very well in her new placement. She is adjusting well, which were happy to hear. They thanked us for loving her & treating her as though she was our own. (mark that up as a first)
If I'm away for days on end...please note my new etsy shop. My dear husband overheard me saying I'd love a new sewing machine, so I could take up sewing and quilting again. My 20 year old 99.00 machine had seen better days. So he goes out and buys one that I would have NEVER ever bought for myself. A Husqvarna Viking. So I feel I must put it to good use. So I will be off sewing my little heart out! Anyone up for a quilting bee?? Come on over, I've got thread!

BYE-BYE...

This is the long way around the world to tell you one funny sentence. Read on....
My stove has been on the blink for 6 or 8 or 10 months. A long time. But I kept thinking maybe it would heal itself. YOU know you've thought that too! It's a gas stove. When I turned it on I would smell gas (yes, I know, bad) but eventually it would light. But then a few months ago, it started taking forever to heat up and never to the temp it should. So it took like 3 hours to cook a pan of lasagna! After starting to complain about it my husband called the repair people. A man came out to diagnose my stove (70.00 just for coming out)
When the man came in, all The Boy heard was the alarm on the front door. That usually signals "DADDY'S HOME, DADDY'S HOME". So he looks up from his cartoons and asks is Daddy home? I said "No, daddy's not home, someone is here to fix our stove. It's not your Daddy" so he goes back to his cartoon watching.
In the flat 15 minutes it took him to diagnose, tell me the total, pick me up off the floor, fix it, & clean up after himself. He was going out the door. The Boy followed us to the door. The nice man said,"bye-bye" and the Boy said,"Bye-bye, somebody else daddy!"
OK, now the cute parts over.
It costs ( & I know it is not proper or southern to talk money) I was completely blown away by the total. We looked into buying a new one, because this one is a simple builders grade Whirlpool* stove. A new one would be between 500. & $600.00. So we decided to fix it.
It was almost 350.00!! And do you think they would "forgo" the coming out fee? Alot of companies do, if you have them fix whatever they came out to look at. NOOOO! That was still part of the bill.
Single women, DO NOT look to marry a Dr. This guy makes more than ANY Dr. I know of and 90% of lawyers! I'm thinking that guy makes about $600.00 an hour! And yes, he evidently is busy all day, every day. It took a week to get this appt. I can get in with my Dr the same day! But of course he never fixes me within 15 minutes.
What was wrong with the stove that costs that much? The ignition switch.. ~sigh~

It's So Quiet here.....

For the first time in five years, there are no foster children here. Just the 2 of us & David.
The Girl was never too much problem to begin with. She was pretty easy going, except for the occasional fit. But it's different knowing she gone. Not here. She's not upstairs asleep in her crib.
But I know somewhere across town, a family is starting their new life with a little girl they love very much. That little girl is on the way to a life she would have never had otherwise.
Goodbye, little girl. Mommy loves you. I'll see you real soon.

The Girl is determined to kill me...

As a parting blow.
She is leaving tomorrow night. So much has or is happening this week, I've not really had time to process it all.
First we were given our 2 weeks of transition time, for which we are grateful. So she was to move this Friday. But David is scheduled for surgery early Thursday morning,so the placement asked if they could help by picking her up Wed. night to ease the load. So the SW agreed to that.
But in the mean time TheGirl decided to be a mountain goat yesterday at daycare and climb on top of a picnic table and fall face first to the ground! The inside of her top gum is BLACK & blue, mostly black. I've never seen a bruise quite like it. And to make things good and crazy one of the top front teeth is loose. So of course, as foster parents your first thought, OH, PLEASE GOD, PLEASE LET HER BE OK. So I was up most of the night worried that some how this would turn out to be my fault or I didn't do something right or fast enough.
But we're just back from the dentist and no fractures. Alot of bruising and a loose tooth that may or may not tighten up by itself. The SW showed up for the visit, so maybe it will be OK.
I'm not going to go with my husband to take her to the relative placement, because that night we also have what I like to call "the quarterly, is your house clean & safe for human habitation" visit.
On top of that, we have to prepare ourselves for The Boy's surgery the next day.
Whoooa, that's enough for me this week, I can't stand anymore fun.
So how's your week been?

Do You Love Precious Moments? You're about to be very happy!

I have been given the special honor of introducing a new product by the company who makes the Precious Moments figurines. I love Precious Moments. All three of my girls have the Sweet 16 figurines & the 19 yr old has their Adoption figurine and she loves it.
How many times have those of you with young girls wished there was something a little more wholesome than b*r*a*t*z dolls and other such dolls? I loath them. Why do people want their daughters to grow up with that image of what a young lady should model themselves after?
Now, on the scene as of September 2nd we now have a wholesome, faith centered series for our girls. They have wonderful books & dolls. But most wonderful is a website that is safe and fun for them to have membership in.
Precious Moments®, is launching a new product line and an interactive virtual world website for girls 4-8 years old. This new concept is called the Precious Girls Club and is a virtual world that inspires, enriches and encourages that all too brief moment in a girl's life journey: being a precious little girl.
The Precious Girls Club will feature wholesome age-appropriate characters. The website, http://www.preciousgirlsclub.com/, will launch on September 1st. The virtual world website will offer games, quests, and virtual charms that reward good behavior in the virtual world, as well as in the external world. Parents will be able to go online and reward their girls with an online helpful charm, for example, when they have helped with household chores. These charms will unlock extra points online, thus providing a fun reward to reinforce positive offline behavior. The site will also provide tools to help girls form their own Precious Girls Clubs in the offline world. To visit the Precious Girls Club site, go to http://www.preciousgirlsclub.com/

**Precious Moments have been so kind as to give my readers a chance to win the very first book, "A LITTLE BIT OF FAITH". Also a web access code to start the fun of being in their virtual world.
To Win: click around on http://www.preciousgirlsclub.com/ , come back and tell what excites you about this new Precious Girl's Club. (2) random readers will receive a brand spankin' new book & the web access code cards.
This will end on Sept. 7th at midnight.
So all you lurkers with little girls....DELURK. It will be well worth your wile. I've read the book and love it for the age group it's made for. I can't wait to hear what you think!

My Beloved Tn....in pictures

We decided to go away for the weekend since the Girl would be doing a weekend visit. And there is nothing I love more than to go to my beloved Tellico Plains, Tn. It is beautiful, peaceful and uncorrupted by (most) civilization. Don't go there looking for excitment or anything to "do".

'cause it ain't happening.

My family traces it's roots to this wonderful place in these beautiful Smokey Mountains for more than 5 generations, the next 5 are scattered between Ind,Tn & Ga. All wanting more than anything to make it back to those hills, our ancestors fought so hard to get out of.

The tomb stone you will be is that of my maternal great grandfather & great grandmother, born in those hills in 1888. There are the graves of my great-great grandparents in the same area, my g-g-great grand parents and in a place called Cades Cove lies the graves of my GGGG-grandparents. Cades Cove was destroyed in 1937 to make way for the Great Smokey mountain National park. Destroying a community that existed since 1818. So my GGGG grandparents are buried in the national park & I must submit proof of kinship every time I want to visit their grave site. Very Sad.

But on to happier things: The pictures... I just noticed I didn't get any inside views. Trust me it was to die for. All the beds were hand hewn logs. As was the log swing I spent most of my time on. Sunday afternoon we had a rain shower that was wonderful. Nothing like sitting on the porch listening to rain on a tin roof.

Most of the photos are self explanatory. I must add the duck pictures were taken in Sweetwater at an aptly named park: The Duck Park. So original. But accurate! :)

See my foot? That was as close as it was getting to that cold water coming down off the mountain!

A BRIEF REPRIEVE

It looks like we have been given a brief reprieve.
There was a court hearing on Friday (surprise!) That we didn't know about. (surprise!)
I was not in the court room. But the relative placement was.
It seems the judge wanted to know why there was no permanency plan for the Girl.
And they were able to stand up and say (because of the love they have for the children)
that,"because of the length of time she was in this placement and the attachment created, it was in the best interest of the child for there to be a transition period to be determined by all 3 parties."
I didn't know whether to laugh or throw up when I heard that. Well, I guess I at least was able to give them something to say to the judge during court that sounded good anyway.
The relative placement thought we knew there was a court hearing on Friday. Of course, we didn't. But now I know why they were so hot to get her placed on Friday. Nothing like being able to stand before the judge and say you did your job. Correctly.
The SW called Friday night and very nonchalantly said," We'll do a transition, but it may go very quickly. Like she'll do another weekend visit and then go there permanently." She didn't know we knew what was said in court.
All I can do is shake my head & wonder, when & if anything in this "system" will change.
From the very smallest of problems(like getting diapers paid for) to the very largest (sitting in care for years, while a family wants to adopt you) will it ever be "fixed"?
I don't think in my life time I will see any change. Of course, 6 months is a life time in foster care. I'm sure they will wear me out way before there will be any reform.
In other wonderful news............I'm pregnant!
NO, just kidding! Good grief, I'd kill over.
We rented a cabin for the weekend in my beloved Tellico Plains,Tn. after we found out the Girl would be gone for the weekend. I'll post some pictures after my wonderful husband loads
'em up!
Really, just kidding about the pregnant thing....

Why do I expect something different from the same people?

Define stupid.
Doing the same things over & over the very exact same WAY,with the exact same People and expecting Different Results. Now who is stupid? Me or Them? Me, that's who.
Because, each and every time I expect they will do things differently THIS TIME. This time they will do it right. This time they'll do what's best for the child. This time they'll do it like the "book" says it should be done. THIS TIME. In five years This Time has not come. Nor does it look like it will happen This Time.
Remember I told you about the Boy's "Siser"? We knew the time would be soon that she would be transitioning to her new permanent placement with relatives. WE knew this was coming. But common sense & the state says there should be a transition time for the child, into the new home. Granted she has visited once a week for 1 1/2 hours for 3 months. But she does not know them. It's like we leave her once a week for an hour to run to the store or something. No overnights or weekends. We know this is the best placement for her, we don't argue that point. We WANT her to go to this relative. We think they are wonderful. But give a kid a break. We've had her since since she was 6 months old & she is now 21 months old. To her, we are her parents.
Soooooooo, I get a call from the sw saying no visit would be needed this month, because they were just going to go ahead and move her to this placement on Friday! Yes, this Friday. 2 days notice. She called at 6:00 last night.
I just told her I thought that was pretty crappy. The poor kid wouldn't know what hit her.
I asked why no transition time and she actually said,"oh, well, I just don't see kids doing transitions anymore, it's just boom, there you are." YOU have got to be kidding me. I told her of the 6 yr old we had & the transition time he was allowed. and reinerated the fact that I thought the Girl would get the short end of the stick if they did it this way & in general told her of my concerns about attachments later on, if this placement did not work, because she is still a legal risk.(since dad has decided to work a case plan after 2 yrs) Finally she said,"you may be right, I'll have to ask my supervisor tomorrow though".
All that we do to keep these kids safe, protected & loved. ALL OF IT! The appointments, the people in and out of your house all the time. Ask permission to do this, go there. And for What?
So they can yank them up at moments notice to do what ever THEY feel is right and good. Don't bother asking or informing the person who cares for them 24/7 their opinion.
I don't want a medal or praise, not even a thank you is needed. Reimburse me for diapers and let me know what is going on in the CASE and treat the kids like they have some kind of rights.
Why do I get so upset every time they do this? It's not like they don't always do it this way. They are pretty consistent in screwing things up.
I honestly wonder if they ever think of the child as being an actual child with feelings and emotions. Or if they just think of them as a case load to be presented before a judge to see if all their paper work was done correctly.
I really am the stupid one.

The physics of 8 ounces

Does anyone know why an 8 oz sippy cup full of milk looks to be a relatively small amount. Until you spill it all over the counter.? Why, when the milk hits the counter it turns into a gallon of milk that flows like the sea? I am such a klutz. They Boy was standing right at my heels (as always) and says,"oops, mama make a mess". Gee, thanks Boy, I hadn't noticed. Then he patted my leg and said, "it's OK, it's OK". Wow, when I spill Dove chocolate squares it never turns into more. Why is that?

SOMETIMES YOU JUST NEED TO RELAX

Planning our Disney Cruise has got so bad...

I see the Olympic Rings on TV, and automatically think,"Hey, that looks like a double Mickey Head!"
If you've seen my kinda new ticker. It is 14 months & 4 weeks (not 15 months) til our 7 day Disney Magic cruise to celebrate our 20th anniversary.
I am a planner. Our first trip to Disney World a few years back was planned down to the minute almost. Dinner reservations made, parks mapped out.
This cruise will be no different. Having never been on one, I must find out everything about them, especially a Disney Cruise. I must know all about the restaurants, what is on the menu's. What the itinerary will be for the kid's clubs for The Boy. How the room is laid out, what the entertainment is. How my bags will make it on the ship. How long will it take for our passports to come. I need an extra birth certificate for The Boy, in case they loose it at the passport office. ( for some reason I don't trust government agencies. I wonder why?) And good grief, WHAT kind of clothes do you wear on a cruise and good grief I need to loose 20 pounds.
So it's no wonder I see Mickey's head in the Olympic Rings! RIGHT?

THIS BOY

Is driving me crazy!
I could swear he's turning 2 instead of 3! All he has done for the past 3 days is whine and cry. I can't even walk out of the room without him having a fit. He wants me to be right with him all the time. He was just at the doctor's 2 weeks ago, so I don't think he's got an ear infection.
He has started to cry to go home if we go somewhere, like the grocery store. Makes eating hard, with no food. But of course he doesn't eat anyway, so that doesn't bother him. He's a little young to be a recluse.
How can anything this cute, drive me so crazy?

WHOA.....

Have you seen or heard about this:

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2008/08/02/surrogate-baby-factory-opens-in-poland-offering-kids-for-couples-at-11k-a-time-86908-20680604/

Go-- take a look & come back and tell me what you think. Good Idea? WHY? Bad Idea? WHY?

Don't be afraid to say what you really think. Keep it on anonymous if you want to.
I just want some honest feedback.

My FAVORITE FLOWER

Do you know what this is?

It took me two years to find this beauty. I first saw it in Southern Living.

It is a Bat Faced plant. The photo does not do the colors justice. When you look

directly at the flowers, it looks just like a red/purple bat. The "ears" are bright red, the face is bright purple and two white stamens stick straight out and look like vampire teeth. It usually is in full bloom by Halloween and the mommies who bring their little ones up the walk are always

dumbfounded, they can't believe it's real. Someone always has to touch it. It is usually a prolific re seeder, but with our drought, it was all I could do to get this tiny sprig to come up. It is usually a big bushy type flower. I am going to have to get as many seeds as possible from this measly stalk this year. They are soooo hard to find and when you do, it's not cheap. Is it not the coolest plant? I love it!

By the way this thing can be flipped up side down later on, to make a loft bed. Rungs can be added to the 2 side by side bars you see. and the mattress will fit inside the blue "box" that is now the bottom of the bed & the canopy put back on. Pretty cool, huh?

I LOVE IKEA, BUT........

PUTTING it together will kick your behind! REALLY! When you see these pictures, look carefully. EVERY single piece is put together with nut & bolt. The drawers in the dresser thingie, the drawers themselves had to be put together. Each drawer 5 pieces each put together. the runners that they slide on, ...put together inside the 'box'. The box itself, put together with nut& bolt. The bed....Lord help me, the bed. Each stick hand screwed into place. There are slates on the bed that hold the mattress up. All 20 put in just so and screwed in, on top and bottom of the slate.

Don't get me wrong, I love the uniqueness of their furniture, It is so very functional. there are pre-drilled holes, so you can add different units and so they can be re-configured if you have the energy later on. The colors are beautiful. What I love is you have more choice than the usual suspects for children. Not your standard Spider*man or Pooh* or Cars*. Very European, if you will. Well Sweden, anyway.

Have you ever been to an Ikea store? LOVE the restaurant. Yes, the place is so big it has a restaurant.

But before you get your 97 boxes of flat wood & nuts and bolts. You have to first GET them. At Ikea you walk around a beautiful and large (many floors) showroom. You have pencil and paper at the ready...to write down the ben# & isle # so YOU can get a huge cart to drag around and YOU must pull all these boxes that you hope lead to what you want and put them on the cart. Then you get to go thru the checkout hoping they can scan everything on the cart, because you do not have the energy to take one of those huge boxes off for them to scan. But the fun is not over. You then must get your vehicle to the loading dock, where YOU will unload the million pound loot into you vehicle. and you better hope you measure just right. We saw people in Geo Metros trying to put entire bedrooms in and on the car. You see alot of U-Hauls there, for good reason.

Was it worth it? Whew, good thing you didn't ask 3 days into trying to put it together. It is alot of work. A LOT OF WORK. Just getting it was alot of work. But the quality of the wood , hardware & accessories can't be found in other stores. IMO. Without paying alot more money.

See what you think.

HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN?

We are coming up on a difficult explanation or time, I'm not sure what to call it.
The Boy thinks of TheBabyGirl as his sister. When he was in daycare, they called her, his sister, when talking to him. So he will sometimes refer to her as his "sister". This weekend he come to tell me, his sister was awake and wanted out of the crib.(just not in that many words) more like,"siser, out crib". I know he doesn't understand "relationship" at his age. But what he does know is she has been living in the same house as long as he can remember. She has been with us over a year. So that would have made him 18 months old when she came to live with us. She was 6 months old. She has been visiting with relatives who are interested in adopting her for a few months. The have all their relative foster care "stuff" out of the way, home study, back ground check, ect. So the time is coming in the near future that his "sister" will be leaving us. I am not sad because these people will be a great family for her and they love her. But how am I going to explain that to a nearly 3 yr old? One day she just isn't going to come home from one of her 3 hour visits. How is it going to effect him? Will he miss her? Will he think one day he will go somewhere, not to come back too? (that thought breaks my very heart)
When the 6 yr old boy left 4 months ago, he asked about him once or twice and then all was forgotten. But cognitively, he will mature and realize children are coming and going in our home. But he will still be too young to understand the concept of Foster*Care.
I think he is going to miss TheGirl more than the 6 yr old. He's older now & I think he will know she is "gone".
I think this will hurt him when she leaves and I will have no way to explain to him why his "siser" left.
I'm not sure I know how to handle this.

DO YOU SEE THIS??

This Boy fell asleep on my couch.
This Boy peed on my couch. Well, technically his diaper wasn't changed before he fell asleep & it leaked....on my couch. Dang it. Now I need a new couch! And I should probably change diaper brands.
Is it just me or does it hurt your neck just looking at the way The Boy is laying there?