the week that school starts!!!!!

counting the week as Saturday to Thursday.   Saturday night, we went to the party in the park thrown by Rocket's orthodontist.  The doctor provides movies in the park throughout the summer and as part of the event, she is then allowed to host a party for all her current and former patients.  Rocket talked to one of his scouting buddies and K got her arm painted.  Of course, it got washed off later that evening when she took her shower.

Monday, we headed to the zoo.  As we were walking in, the rains came in.  Good thing I was looking at the weather and we packed our rain coats.   We had a great time.  I gave the kids the option to pick their favorite animal to see and we made sure to see those animals.  Sis wanted to see the polar bears- they were sleeping, so no pictures.  Rocket wanted to see the big cats (lion, tigers, jaguars, etc.  We saw them, but they were in the dark (simulating night time in the cat house, so no pictures.  I wanted to see Fiona (the baby hippo born Jan 2017).  So as we walked, we saw the Rhinos

 

the bird house (escaping the pouring rain).

Fiona and her momma.   Nose to tail.  they were swimming in circles the entire time we watch them.   usually to see Fiona you stand in a long line and there are people packed up against the windows.  thanks to the rain, we walked right up to see them and we were not in anyone's way - well except for Sis who has no concept of taking turns and walked right in front of people taking pictures as she followed Fiona and Bibi as they swam.  that girl needs to be more aware of people around her and what impact her actions have on others.

Rocket's arm span is as long as tiger!!!!

Sis is getting there.

Tuesday we went to the library to make things in the Maker Space.  I made ornaments.  Sis made some things for her family and some stickers and Rocket made a Neymar pendant on the 3D printer.

I made tacos in peppers that night for dinner.  It was YUMMY.  this is coming to our table on a regular basis now.

Wednesday, I took the kids to the pool for some swimming.  We shared the pool with lots of retirees.  Clearly we are one of the last schools to go back.  The kids swam for 2 hours, with some jumping off the diving board included, I swam for a hour and then read my book by the pool. 

so tired!!!

Today the kids started school.  So 7 am pictures.  the bus now comes 20 minutes earlier then previous years so it changes our schedule a bit.  Rocket is off to his last year at his school and sis is starting 6th grade.

 

 

Tomorrow, we start having the kids next door over in the morning and 3 afternoons a week (not sure what days for the afternoon).  it is going to be an adventure.

 

love and hugs,

Deb

 

13 years old!!!

The boy turns 13 today.  I guess I can not call the boy any more.  I think he will have to be the young man for the next few years.  He is growing up way too fast!!!  He is such a great young man, kind, considerate, thoughtful.  He might not talk much, but he is a deep thinker.

 

 

Birthday party with the family on Sunday.  He made the cheese cake- it was delicious.

coming into the office this morning after waking up and getting a call from Mam so she could sing to him.

 

Wrapped birthday present was almost an enticement to wake up all the way. Pablo was more interested in the doggie Frisbee.

Soccer nets for the front yard when he is playing/practicing with friends.

Caught!!!  I have captured the elusive 13 year old male of the species. 

 

He looks so thrilled.

 

I am taking the kids out for breakfast this morning to celebrate- one of the advantages of having a birthday in the summer.  Sis will get to go out for dinner on her actual birthday since her birthday is during the school year.

 

More pictures to come this week as he has a friend party tomorrow evening

 

Love and hugs,

Deb

countdown to school too

We are 2 weeks away from school starting!!!!!  I am seriously on the count down to school, these kids need to be out of the house- they are driving me bonkers.  Not anything bad, just the constant interruptions while I am working.  What is driving me bonkers is that sis wants everything Rocket has and she wants it now.  So yesterday, Rocket had an appointment for his braces, as we left the appointment, she wanted to go pick up her glasses.  now, it was 9 am and I had a day full of meetings and I had a plan to get her glasses in the evening after we dropped Rocket off for soccer practice, but that was not good enough- she wanted them NOW.  So a temper tantrum because she did not get want she wanted and she was in a foul mood for the rest of the day.  Oh, I need her to be at school for 7 hours so I have a mental break from all this.

 

She had her school assessment yesterday and she is in school now.  She is going need to support for the gaps she has.  you can learn if you are worried about housing, food and the safety of yourself and your parent- she clearly shows this.  So we will have some intervention meetings to start the year and get all the supports in place and go from there.  Rocket has had supports, so I know the process and the team.  It is all good.

 

We did some school shopping this week- a few supplies that I had not stocked up on from prior years (1 inch and 3 inch binders), Sis and I picked up uniform shirts yesterday and 2 pairs of pants.  She was not happy about the pants.  In her words "she does not wear floppy leg pants (AKA pants that are not skinny legged type)".  So we had to have a discussion that uniform pants DONT come in skinny leg type, but only come in straight leg and she can wear leggings under them if she needs something tight to her legs.  we could not find shorts, so that is one thing for me to look for this weekend.  She did get a uniform skirt from school.  It is an alternative for her instead of shorts or pants.  She wants it super short- I had to burst that bubble too- it has to come to her knees or at least mid thigh.  She is underwhelmed by catholic school uniforms at this time.  I am taking the kids out for shoes tonight- pray for me.

Oh, the highlight of my day- Sis had to buy her own supplies for slime!!  She had $5 and it was burning a hole in her pocket.  She was not pleased that she got 2 very small bottles of glue, 1 small bottle of contact solution, and 1 small box of baking soda.  I think her total was $4.63.  She thinks she is getting gallons of glue for her birthday in October, but that is not the case.   that girl.  My question- how many different types of slime do you need to make??????  Seriously, if you have 2 already, why make more.

 

 

on to pictures:

Pablo sleeping under my desk.  His soft doggie bed was not comfortable enough, so he put the small doggie bed under his head as a pillow.  yes, he did this, not me.

Rocket worked with the other scouts on Saturday to plant trees behind his school/church.  this is an Eagle scout project for one of the older boys.  they worked from 9-2 pm in the heat and humidity.  it was over 90 F and the humidity was awful.  I sent him to the showers once he got home.  Lots of sweaty boy smells.

Sis got her glasses last night. She looks great.  they look very much like wire rimmed glasses here, but they are solid plastic.  Hopefully she does not tear them apart like she did at her last foster home. 

I really like how they don't overtake her face, she is a beautiful young lady.

 

 

Love and hugs,

Deb

Countdown to the boy's birthday and the start of school has begun

It's August and the countdowns begin. The first to the boy's 13th!!!!!!!!!! birthday and then to the first day of school for this year!!!!   I think I am little more excited for the second one- the kids are driving me crazy.  They have a list of things to do before they can have electronics or watch TV, this list should take them 2 hours max- it includes some school work to keep their skills, reading, chores, creativity (crafts), music and playing outside or playing a board game.  you would think I was torturing them and making them do things for hours.  School work is 4 pages (1 page is the front or the back of a page).  OMG the drama over it is wearing me down every day.  Sis can not do math to save her life and then plays dumb when she has to do grammar stuff.  I spend my lunch time showing her the steps to do the math.  She is really living proof that kids can not learn when they are worried about their next meal, their personal safety or whether their parent is going to be alive when they get home from school.

 

Rocket is showing immense maturity this summer- he does his work and only complains about the chores (every chore with the exception of grass cutting can be done in under 10 minutes). Sis got her cast off today, so she is going to be learning grass cutting.  this should be an adventure.

 

Some pictures from the last week.

Rocket showing that he is now strong enough to lift the 1st grader from next door onto his shoulders.

Sis on a walk in the park with Pablo.  There is a story here- the kids were up and down the stairs to my office all day long, they were "bored".  As I am finishing up my work, the neighbors next door invited them to swim, but that meant I would have to stay home and not do the errands I had planned and I nixed the swimming (oh the drama started up again).  One of the errands was getting them both out of the house because they had been inside all day.  they ended up enjoying the walk and learned a lesson- that if you bug mom while she is working over trivial stuff she is not going to let you do the fun stuff you final find to do.  We ended the night with grocery shopping.

climbing the tree at the park.  they were both happy.

Saturday night, we had movie night with a friend out at the drive-in movie theater.  We had a great time.  Definitely on our to-do list for August and September.

Last night, we went to Tortilleria Gracia for taco Tuesday.  $1 tacos and some refried beans, chips and guacamole and we were set.  Adult conversation for me and life was looking much better.

the gang: Stuart (friend from college), sis, E (Rocket's buddy from school), Rocket, and Lisa (another friend from college).

Me in the picture too.  Such a good night.

 

So 15 days until I really have a teenager, not just a kid that thinks he is teenager and 23 days until school starts.  I am totally counting days until school starts.  I will so enjoy having the house to myself for 7 hours- blessed silence and no one following me around all day seeing what I am doing when I leave my office.  No more crafts all over the dinning room and then being told it was cleaned up when I can see it all still sitting there.  No more arguments over the electronics.  Which is all false, because now the arguments will be condensed into the hours after school when homework should be done and there are evening activities.  but, I am not going to think about that now, I am going to live in the promise of blessed silence for 7 hours when they head back to school.

 

Love and hugs,

Deb