A little bit of weather

I'm sure most of you saw on the news, or witnessed first hand the weather we got hit with yesterday. It was a bit overcast, and very humid, but not a miserable day. The boys and I were hanging out, Joel and his dad were working on the boat. After a while we realized Duchess had slipped under the fence and disappeared AGAIN. The boys and I started walking through the backyards looking for her. After a while, we found her "visiting" a neighbor who was nice enough to hold on to her until I could get there. On the way back to our house, I heard the tornado whistle-which we can't usually due to our location. So I grabbed the boys, and made a bee-line for the house. It started to get really nasty, and we threw the idea of hail around. Not believing it would really happen, we still decided to pull Bryce's brand new truck into the garage, and watched as golf ball sized hail started to come down only seconds later. Amazed at the size, we got side tracked and stood in the garage watching it come down. It started to slow down, and someone...who shall remain nameless...(Bryce) said "well, looks like we're past it". About 3 minutes later we started to see racquetball sized hail pelting our house, 3 vehicles, camper, etc. The wind picked up and we decided to get inside. That's when I realized every window in my house was open, and the front door was propped open. There was rain, hail, and leaves over 7 feet into my living room. I got hit hard 2x while trying to get the screen door shut. The kitchen was a lake, and both dogs and all 3 kids were not happy campers! Finally, it stopped, and then the pea sized hail came. Eventually it all blew over, and we were able to assess some of the damage. These pictures don't do it justice. They were taken a while after, and the hail had started to melt. But yes, that' s a broken window in the front of the house. The hail by the car was quite large and landed and bounded and was in the middle of my living room-but don't get too excited, it's just a puzzle piece. Thankfully, we are all safe and sound-our vehicles and camper and house all need some major repairs though.

Taz strikes....well you know the deal

Ok, so this time it's my fault. Dr. Phil was doing a follow up to a two part show he aired a couple weeks ago, and I wanted to see it. Jake was asleep, as was Kaleigh, and Ryan was supposed to be having quiet time on my bed, so I thought, "why not?". After a while, I realized it was very quiet in the house, and thought....hmmm did Ryan fall asleep? NO SUCH LUCK! I found him in my bathroom, tearing apart the jade plant I have been growing for the last 4 years. He stripped all the leaves off, dug out the dirt, and then, to make it even better, he threw his bathroom toys on top to make even a bigger mess. The problem is, that I can't even really get mad at him, cuz I should have been paying closer attention. The worst part, the show wasn't even that interesting!

My boys

Dirty and loving it, we went out to the back yard to play after planting flowers. They were so busy playing they wouldn't come inside for lunch. I had to go grab hot dogs and apple slices for them to eat as they played.

Planting flowers

Yesterday the boys and I got our flower seeds planted. Better late than never I always say. By the time we were finished they were FILTHY from head to toe, but they loved it, and so did I.

Foster Parent restrictions

As foster parents, we're given all sorts of rules and regulations we have to follow regarding the kids placed in our home. One being that we can't share pictures either with our family or online. I've been frustrated with that one cuz a lot of pics I have show Jaz or Kaleigh's faces. Well I mentioned earlier that our friends Katie and Adam were granted permission to adopt foster child Marceah, well along with that comes the privilege of sharing pictures. Here's a link to her blog so you can see just how excited they are, and adorable Marceah is.

www.adamandkatherine.blogspot.com

4 in the Tub-bub

Last week, some of our friends came over to play late in the afternoon. They stayed for supper, and afterward we threw all the kids in the bathtub-together. 4 boys, one tub...I'll let you do the math!

Doggy "Dungeon"

We put the dog's in the castle's dungeon because Duchess kept chasing after the wheels on the go-kart and jeep. They weren't very happy about it. Doesn't this picture of Duchess look like she's got her tongue up her nose?

Box Elder Bugs

For some reason, we seem to get inundated with box elders every year. For a while, I thought they were really gross, and was so embarrassed when people would see them at my house. Then-reality check-every person I apologized to about them said they had the same problem. After a while, I came to realize that box elders are harmless, although annoying. You just can't get rid of them! Now I can pick them up with my fingers and not get grossed out. Well this evening, Ryan's friend Colt came over to play, and they found a box elder bug on the kitchen floor. Immediately all the boys were fascinated by it. For a few moments, I was afraid Jake was going to eat it. Instead he played with it so much he killed it, and I put it down the drain. 1 down 99,999,999 more to go!

Nana's New Store

After we left the birthday party, Joel drove us out to my mom's Subway. The store recently underwent a HUGE remodel. Joel hadn't seen it yet, and I wanted pictures for the blog, so we ventured out that way. I didn't get very good pictures, but we did get some great sandwiches for the drive home!

Papa's 50th B-day Party

This last weekend we went to Plainview for Papa Schmitz's 50th b-day celebration. There was a golf tournament, an open house at the golf course, and afterward family and friends at their house. We asked to have Jazmin for the weekend so she could share in the celebration and meet our family, and unfortunately, she ended up being a bit under the weather. So I stayed back at the house with the kids, my sister and sister in-law, and a great family friend (as we used to call her our 2nd mom) Carol. Even though it would have been nice to be outside at the golf course, and enjoying the sunshine, it was a wonderful time catching up and just spending time with her. While growing up our families were so "melded" together, and did everything with each other. We called ourselves the McHeins' - a combination of our last names. We did make it out to the open house, and stayed for the get together at the house too, but we didn't stay overnight like we intended, instead we drove home. It was a VERY long day, but it was great to see so many friends and family-from all sides together having a great time. Once again Happy Birthday Papa...ya ole' fart!

Congrats

We want to say congrats to our friends Katie and Adam who just today were granted permission to adopt one of their foster children. They got approval from the Tribal Council, and will be starting the long, but rewarding path toward adopting Marceah

A visit to a friend's farm

Today I took the kids to my friend (and our former dog trainer) Jen's farm. She and her husband Chuck are trying to fulfill their dreams of living a self-sustaining lifestyle. I am truly inspired whenever I read her blog or talk with her about how they are beginning to fulfill this dream. I know I can never achieve what they are trying to, but I enjoy learning from her and try to apply the knowledge as best as a a lay person can. Here are the links to her blogs in case anyone is interested:

http://www.duskwindfarm.blogspot.com/

and

http://www.ilanapeterson.blogspot.com/

The kids enjoyed the farm. Jake wouldn't feed the animals, but he was fearless of them. He walked right up to the Highlander (again for the lay person....the red cow with the horns) and was like "hi"! The cows were all very curious of the kids, as were the sheep. Ryan was brave enough to feed them some grain, with me holding his hand of course. She showed us the ducks, and their eggs, the chicken and their eggs, the rooster-which Ryan said "cock-a-to-do" to. It was a lot of fun. We also got to see her daughter Ilana, whom we hadn't seen since she was just a few weeks old. What a porkchop, a true example of how good breast milk can be for babies.

It was a very pleasant day, and we would have loved to stay longer, but with 3 young kids, I was lucky to get the time that we did.

Playing with friends

Ryan's best friend Colt came over to use our driveway to test drive his new tricycle. The kids all had a blast.

Mother's Day

It's a little late, but I wanted to update anyway.

Mother's day was spent at home with the kids, Joel's parents, and great Grandma Pete. We were also also lucky enough to have Jazmin for the day, and that was wonderful. We played outside on the swing set, had supper for 9, and later, Joel installed my mother's day present....a new garbage disposal. I asked for a clothes line, but about 30 seconds later, the garbage disposal went on the fritz and I re-arranged my priorities! All in all it was a wonderful day spent with family, and most importantly my kids and foster kids and I couldn't have been happier! To be blessed with so many wonderful children in my life, and family that's supportive of our life choices is really all I could ask for.

Pizza Party at Davvanis

Today we went to Davvanis with a bunch of friends from ECFE. One of the moms used to manage some stores and told us of a "build your own pizza" day that they do. It was lots of fun. I'm not sure how many of us there were, I think 17 kids and 5 moms. They brought out individual pizza crusts and toppings for the kids and they all got to make their own pizza. Then they baked them, we ate, and then got a tour of the kitchen, ovens, etc. The kids loved it, and the store employees really seemed to enjoy us being there. Although I don't envy the ones who had to clean up after us!

Fixing the Boat Trailer/Friends come to play

Joel needed to do a brake job on the boat trailer, so we thought we'd see if our friends wanted to come over and play/help. They came over and the dads worked on the boat(well Ryan too.....) and the kids/moms played in the yard. It was a good time for all!

"Drinking" and Driving

Jake finally figured out how the go-kart power wheels works. He too doesn't know how to steer, but it's fun to watch. The Diet Coke can was empty he just wouldn't put it down.

"Pound-Dog"

Kendall and Bobby have a dog named Hound Dog. For some reason Ryan calls him Pound Dog. They brought him up for the weekend, and the three dogs played till they tipped over (literally)!