Who can find a Boy cuter than this?

To counteract the bad...

NO, I'm not proud. Why do you ask?

Someone asked my opinion

But it didn't feel so good to give it.
Both my babies are at the point of *TPR or *reunification.
I knew I had to testify, I just didn't know what day. It turned out to be today.
I was drilled by 4 attys. I answered all the usual yes or no questions. Because, really, they don't want to know my opinion. I just raise the kids. So who am I?
But one atty asked my opinion on whether or not the baby should be returned to his mother or go to the prospective adoptive parent.(the child has been in care almost 2 yrs, long enough for her to get her stuff together) I was floored. In 6 years no one has EVER asked my opinion. I have a good rapore with the bmom, so I knew at that moment I would no longer be her confidant and she would be beyond angry at me. And she would have every right to do so.
But I was under oath. I have never told her I thought the child should be with her. I've told her to fight to the bitter end for her child, never give up. For nothing else than her own peace of mind. She has grown as a person alot in 20 months. But this baby doesn't have time to wait for her to grow up and be a decent parent. He needs a mother now. A home now.
Before I answered I asked the atty, "you are asking for my personal opinion, correct?" they said "yes". So I gave them my personal opinion.
The baby would be better off physically, emotionally, psychologically, ect with the adoptive parents. The look on bmom's face was complete devastation. For that I am very sorry. But she has no place to live, no job, no transportation. She's no closer to working a caseplan* than the day he came into care. I want even go into her choice of abusive men in her life.
I've always wanted "the powers that be" to HEAR what I have to say in the matter of these babies. Now I have seen the face of the ones that my opinion effects. It doesn't mean I'm sorry for what I believe is best for the babies, because in my book they come first. They loose something no matter what.
I guess what I'm trying to say is as a mother, I can't imagine hearing from somebody that they don't think I'm good enough to raise my own child.
I'm sorry she had to hear me say those things. Even if they are true.
Giving my opinion was more emotionally draining than I ever thought it would be.
I'm glad I'm not a judge.

squeeeeeky clean

Listerine Oral Care and Reach gave us the chance to take the Oral Care Challenge.

You see The Boy had recently decided that brushing his teeth just wasn't for him.
Have you ever tried to pry the mouth open of a child who didn't want their teeth brushed?
It's not pretty. And leads to both of you having a melt down.
Our challenge was to brush, floss and rinse every day, twice a day. I thought "yea, right". But I was desperate. I needed something, anything!
So they sent us cool Reach tooth brushes, a calendar with TEETH STICKERS, floss and rinse.
I had nothing to loose.
When he opened the box and saw the stickers and cool tooth brushes, The Boy wanted to start right then and there. Who knew a box of tooth brushes and some stickers would be all it took to get the kid to brush his teeth?
www.listerine.com or www.AmericasToothfairy.org will give you more information about the challenge.
I can tell you it's one of the best things we've ever done. The Boy can't wait to show you how "squeaky clean" his teeth are after using the cool tooth brush. THANK YOU Listerine & Reach!


“I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of LISTERINE and REACH and received products to take the Oral Care Challenge. Mom Central also sent me a Global Giving gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

EDICATE 101

(BAD) EDICATE & MANNERS are one of my pet peeves.
Now I understand not knowing edicate for every single situation you may find yourself in. But come on, follow the lead of the other people around you. Very elementary. Right? Or maybe I'm just anal.
When sitting in a Do Jong (taekwondo school) it is quiet, very quiet, except for the teacher. Who is giving instruction. You know, the thing we PAY him so much to do.
But there is always ONE or maybe two annoying mothers in the do jong that drives me batty. I take a book to read, so as not to kill their offspring who are rude or may accidentally hit my baby.
Today THE LOUD WOMAN who wants you to hear her cell phone conversations almost drove me over the edge. She was talking soooo loud that when I stepped outside I could actually STILL hear her talking. Now I don't know this woman's name.BUT, I can tell you almost anything you want to know about her or her family or the wayward women in the church where she goes. In today's conversation, she was telling her friend Cindy she was not going to be buying her child a Christmas present because it's best to invest in experiences instead of "things". If you're interested she's taking him to his grandmother's house for Christmas, but not telling him til Christmas morning. She thinks he will love it. AND there's a family in the church that is taking their children trick or treating. I think their salvation was called into question a few times and the kids will be warped/possessed for life because of it.
She and her husband aren't getting along very well at the moment either. And homeschooling isn't working out well for her, but she's got to keep it up anyway.
There is a time and place for everything. If you talk really loud or wear your shoes on the taekwondo mat.
I will blog about how ignorant you are. I'm not paying all this money to listen to you talk at the top of your voice, while your rude children are keeping my boy from learning.
OK, rant over. Not like they'll ever see this. But I feel so much better :)

Teenagers...

I did respite for a teenager for 5 days, weeks, months? No really it was 5 days, but I tell you it seemed like weeks.
I've never had teenagers before (other than my own) ummmmmm, can I just say these teens have more issues than I care to deal with.
I don't think I'll be doing this again.
Bless those of you who do teen foster care. You are much braver than me.

Water, Water or Water

It seems pretty simple. Water is water is water
Not if you live in my neck of the woods. Our county water is NASTY.
I do not drink tap water or let the kids drink the tap water.
I'm so tired of trying to lug huge cases of bottles water into a buggy (cart, if you must)
lug it into the car, out of the car into the house. Then continue to pick the bottles off the floor 20 times a day because they are the baby's favorite play thing. Plus, all those bottles HAVE to junk up the land fills. I don't need that on my conscience too. I've often thought of getting a water filter system...forget it, I'd have to sell a kid.But I have been given the next best thing. A Water filtration pitcher from 3M.
filtering five times faster than traditional pitcher filters, the Filtrete Water Pitcher offers better tasting water in a matter of seconds. I don't have to stand there and stare at it for 45 minutes while it filters. Also, the filter lasts longer, filtering two and half times more water than traditional pitcher filters and lasting about three months. It filters 100 gals. of water on one filter!
I love this new pitcher filter. It makes the water better and drinkable.
you can find out more about them here:

http://www.filtrete.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/FiltreteUS/Filtrete/Resources/Clear-advantages/




“I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Filtrete and received the water pitcher to facilitate my candid review. .”

I love the mountains

This one is just for Kellie, we found another cool mustache quarter machine.

Toy Story 3 ON ICE

Disney was kind enough to send us to Toy Story 3 On Ice.
And somebody had a good time.



Or was it these guys who had the better time?



They even had the cutest crafts ever to make. Mr Potato Head, made out of a real potato!



If you happen to be in the *Atl*nt* area and want to see one cute show, take a look here for the info.
Ticket Prices: Tickets start at $14 ($14, $22, $30, $35, $50 VIP and $75 Rinkside)Order at www.ticketmaster.com http://www.ticketmaster.com
or charge by phone, 800-745-3000
Show Times: Wed., Oct. 13, 7:30 p.m.Thurs., Oct. 14, 7:30 p.m.Fri., Oct. 15, 10:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.Sat., Oct. 16, 11 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.Sun., Oct. 17, noon and 4 p.m.* *

Green Works Walk to School Challenge

The Boy and I decided to take the Walk to School Challenge.
I needed the exercise and The Boy needed a few life lessons. Neither of us were happy the first couple of days.
After the weather started acting like semi-fall instead of August in the south we both were happy.
We found lots of things to talk about. The huge monarch butterflies were a hit every morning. The ant hills made us late several days. Mommy did not help when she started taking plastic bags to dig up wild flowers to bring home and plant.
This was a great challenge and one will take back up in the spring. There's no telling what we will find then.


During the month of October, elementary and middle school students and their families can help their schools win one of five $5,000 grants – simply by walking or bicycling to school. Parents are invited to sign up online for the Walk to School Challenge at www.facebook.com/greenworks, and log their families' walking or bicycling trips on behalf of their school. The five schools with the highest levels of participation will be eligible to win a $5,000 grant. Frequent walkers and bicyclists can also earn individual prizes, ranging from green shoelaces to reusable water bottles.

The Walk to School Challenge comes during a time of increased attention to the sedentary lifestyles of both adults and children throughout America. Walking and bicycling to school provides an easy way for many families to take a step towards more physical activity in their everyday routine and a more natural lifestyle.

So lace up your sneakers and take in the sights and sounds during your walk to school. Make walking fun by counting steps with your child and point out the changing leaves or colorful flowers.


"I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Clorox Green Works and received a thank-you gift certificate."

October cool fact

An interesting fact about October 2010:
This October has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays, all in 1 month.
It happens once in 823 years.
Amazing.

For some things there just are no words...

If I blogged about the messed up stuff going on around here in the *#fostercare world... your head would pop off. How do I know this? Because mine has, several times. And tomorrow I'm going to try to make theirs pop off with what I have to say about the whole mess.

My Boy, Lunchables & sensory issues

My Boy is so perfect I rarely talk about the sensory issues he has. These have been
around since he was about 18 months old. He would not eat any foods that had certain textures. NO fruit or vegetable has passed his lips since about the age of 16 months.
No #3 baby foods because there were more than one food in it & the textures of it sent him in tail spends. It actually triggered a gag reflex, so that he would throw it up (TMI?)
We have spent the last 3 1/2 years trying to find foods that would work with the sensory issues he has. For years it's been mac & cheese, yogurt, cheese, milk, then we were able to add chicken nuggets about 2 years ago. Big victory. However they have to have no "crispy edges" or burned marks or specks on them of any kind. Then spaghetti, BUT the sauce can have NO specks of herbs in it. No "stuff" can be seen.He would eat pizza, but no sauce, try telling that to a pizza place, after 15 minutes of explaining,we still got the sauce, wanted or not. ~sigh~
That was the extent of his food eating repertoire.
Until about 6 weeks ago. We were in the Lunchable section when he saw the Pizza Lunchables. He asked if he could have a pizza he could make himself. I'm always up for anything he says he will eat. It usually falls flat, but we try. He picked pepperoni too. I was sceptical. We took them home, he wanted to fix them for his lunch. We had to warm them up, so the textures were more melted together. BUT, BUT,he ate them! All 3 that came in the package.(minus the sauce of course) We could not have been happier.
So needless to say we have a fridge full of pepperoni & plain cheese Lunchables.
This is really a huge step for some kids with sensory issues.
Who would have thought a convenience food/on the go food would help The Boy overcome
or at least help with sensory issues.
Thank you Mr/Mrs. Lunchable. We Love You!

Over the last few years, Lunchables has worked hard to improve their products by reducing overall sodium content, fat and calories by at least 20% throughout their product lines, and adding spring water and fruit to various lunches. Newly available options such as the Chicken and American Sub Sandwich as well as Chicken Strips, along with old favorites like the Deep Dish Cheese Pizza, now come with DOLE Mandarin Oranges. Lunchables provides improved lunch options with 100% white meat chicken, reduced-fat cheese and whole grain bread. And the already easy to go container now has many recyclable parts, making them a more environmentally friendly option.


"I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Lunchables and received the products necessary to facilitate my review. In addition, I received a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate."

I'm going, do you want to go?

http://www.watchingthewaters.com/2010/09/orlando-159-days.html

No, I don't know a single one of these women in real life.
But I've known some of them for years, some I've never said (wrote) a word to.
But I feel I know them as well or better than their best friends, and them me.
I've never done anything like this before. But the idea of spending the weekend with someone who knows exactly the kind of life, drama, hades,other world-ness I live is surreal. To know there really is someone,lots of someones, who know what I'm talking about is priceless....and I have not been without a kid hanging on me for about 6 years...really. I selfishly want to go so I can pretend I don't have a care in the world & I wont hear mommymmommymommymommy one million times in an hour.
I don't think doing something totally out of character in 40,hmm,hhmmm years is too bad.

Too Much

Sometimes there's just so much going on, you just want to turn your back on the whole thing.
There's no words to explain it anyway.

Surprises around every mouse click

Just clicking around trying to find the very earliest pictures of The Boy...I found some too cute to even believe!

Let's talk Sinus'

My husband had sinus infections for years. He had one at least every other month.
Finally he had to have sinus surgery a few years ago. (it's a very miserable surgery, by the way) But lo & behold about a year after the surgery he started having them again. There was no way he was going to go through the surgery again. So the ENT dr said he needed to try a Neti-pot. He wasn't so sure to begin with, but would rather try that than have infections all the time or forbid, another surgery.
He has religiously used a neti-pot twice a day or at least once a day for years now.
He can't go without it. And I can tell you he only has about one sinus infection a year, if that. It really has made that much difference in the number of infections he has.
I asked the ENT why more people didn't use these and he said he always recommends them but most people are put off by putting water up their noses. Personally, I think I'd rather do that than feel like I'm dieing from a sinus infection or have sinus surgery.
He said it was also good for people with pollen allergies. You can wash all the wonderful pollen out, when our beautiful southern trees and flowers bloom.
I asked my husband if I could take a picture of him doing the neti-pot...he just looked at me like I'd lost my mind. After 22 years, I think that means NO!
So you get to look at the bottles instead. It really is easy and it really does make a difference.
WaterPic even has two different ways to do it.
Squeeze Bottle- allows you to customize the amount of water flow for a complete cleanse, simply with an easy squeeze. The SoftSeal™ nozzle maximizes comfort and the One-Way FlowControl™ valve prevents backflow to maintain solution purity.

Neti Bottle- a unique approach to the traditional neti pot; its ergonomic shape, SoftSeal™ nozzle and One-Touch FlowControl™ valve make the Neti Bottle easy to hold, comfortable against your nose and creates a controlled gravity-fed water flow that provides a gentle sinus cleansing.

Even better, all SinuSense™ products are BPA free, dishwasher and microwave safe and safe for everyday use, even for children ages 4 and up. Now everyone in your family can breathe easier- and cleaner!

My Baby My Baby

After 28 years of being a mommy, my last baby is starting his journey into education.
He is going to Pre-K this year. He has a late birthday, so he'll be one of the oldest in his class. There is no turning back now. Next year my baby boy will HAVE to go to school or I will have to homeschool him. In a few months he'll be 5! 5. Where has the time gone?
I think 5 is the "you can't even say he's a baby anymore cutoff". ~sigh~

Nothing like griping to make you feel better

(This one's mine by the way, not up for grabs. this was taken at a festival today)


I don't usually write in too much detail about the *foster children I have in my home. Oh, I know I do my fair share of griping. I just kind of generalize it.
But both of my boys will be leaving soon, I believe. It's not like it's not about time. I happen to believe a child should not be in *foster*care one minute longer than it takes the parents to get their crap together. I *foster the very young ones. Attachment issues are very real in this age group. One little one is the cutest thing you've ever seen. As a matter of fact one of the complete strangers who's lap he crawled up into said," Those eyes are so bright, you'd need to change the bulb in there every once in awhile." He knows no stranger. Which is terribly scary if you know anything about RAD%. He's been with us 18 mos. of his 30 mos. of life. I fear for his future and the perspective parents, who I doubt ever heard of RAD^, let alone know how to handle it or even know if this is something they can deal with. All they know is the superduper *SW says he is *healthy,white,male child. period. I will be sure to fill in all the very large gaps they fail/forget to tell them. Plus he's still a *legal risk. If I were them I would run and never look back. But I keep telling myself, who am I to judge. Maybe they can deal with it. But the first time they meet and he calls them mama & daddy, it will all be over, and they will hear nothing of my warning. People, love does not cure all things.
My other baby, has been with us 21 of his 24 months. His poor case has languished for far too long. One day he's going home & the next he's going to TPR*, staying in state or going out of state for *adoption. They don't have a clue. All the while this baby thinks this IS his home, the only home he's ever known. Why shouldn't he think that. It's the courts that should be ashamed of what they've done to this child's life. It doesn't take 2 years to figure out if mom's got what it takes to parent a child. Especially if you've had 2 more since the first came into care. Folks, this ain't rocket science. Foster*Care is a necessary evil, if you will. But it doesn't mean the state couldn't do a better job of taking into care the ones who need it and sending home the ones that need to go. Whether that be back to bparents or adoptive parents. Sitting in foster*care for years doesn't do anyone, on either side of the fight any good.
I've said my rambling piece for the night. I feel so much better.
I wonder why Juvenile court judges don't read foster blogs. Maybe they could learn the real truth.

You know it's September in the South

Beautiful, Beautiful Kudzu is in bloom. I wonder if most people know it actually
has a bloom? Zooming by on the highway, you'd never know.

(Actually late August, early September. But that wouldn't fit in the title.)

I love kudzu. It's like huge green leafy drapes everywhere you look.
The blooms smell like you walked into a giant piece of grape bubblegum.
My husband hates it and says it smells like deodorant cakes they put in men's urinals. I'm just going to have to take his word on that one. I don't want to know what they put in there.