Nathan update

He is so much better! His lungs were clear thank goodness and he so far today been with out any medicine. He has more of a runny nose and his cough sounds so bad, but from the other kids I noticed when their cough sounds worse it means they are actually getting better. So, although not back to his complete, busy self he is feeling much better and playing with the other kids.

One sick boy

Nathan has come down with something. He has been having some breathing issues but we are watching that closely. Poor little guy has a fever over 103 and we may need to get him looked at this evening, it is a good thing there is a Doc in the family. He has been on the couch all day and wanting to snuggle, which of course I do not mind. He is still so cute though!!

Monster Truck Jam

Boys night last night...they went to the Monster Truck Jam. Shane, Jacob and Grandpa George all took the light rail and enjoyed a full afternoon/evening of monster trucks. They had pit passes and were able to get up close and personal with the trucks. Jacob thought it was so cool!

This is Shane's favorite picture! He said the look on Jacob's face when the trucks were doing tricks was priceless. It is pleasure to our hearts to see his heart so happy with new and exciting adventures!!

Jacob's favorite...Teenage Mutant Ninja's Monster Truck!

A few more

Photo Shoot Practice

Shane's Dad opened a booth at Mesa's downtown arts fair today so we went down there to support him, of course I had to take me camera in part to practice with using various natural backgrounds and light. The kids did great and I got a few good ones. It does help when you have amazing settings and models!

Uh Oh - Bad Parent Award!

This is what happens when you have too many kids and tell them to go to the changing table to get ready for bed and forget about them. Shane sent Ayana there and then ran upstairs for a minute to finish something else and "forgot" about her for about 10 min when we realized it was too quiet...this is what we found...her sound alseep! Oooops!

MLK Day Bowling

We took the monring on Monday to go bowling with our kids. Asjiah and Ayana spent the weekend with another foster family. We have come to terms with the idea that we do need a break every once in a while, it is better on our family as a whole. The kids have been begging us to go bowling again and we took advantage of the day off. Jacob has become a pretty good bowler and literally throws his whole body into it...quite the sight! Nathan was the best cheering section we could have asked for...he laugherd, cheered and clapped for everyone as they took their turn. We couldn't be more blessed!

Taking advantage of the weather

Can't complain about the weather...the kids LOVE being outside right now and I love being able to send them. We had fun meeting up with friends Courtney and her boys on Monday afternoon.

Redeemed!

For those of you that know me well know that I struggle with validation, and mostly with being Mom/Wife. I have been working on trusting God's validation and not expecting people to meet that need. Well as usual God does not disappoint! Shane works from home most Fridays and he has been a bit stressed with a large work load so this past Fri I decided to stay out of the house all morning to give him ideal conditions. After dropping off Samantha at school I took Nathan back to the mall to play until Costco opened. As I was getting him out of the car he pointed at the building and said...

"Mama, I walk, I walk Mama!" over and over. I had a huge smile on my face first because he recognized where we were and second because he remembered our last encounter there. He sure is a smart little boy and walk he did. He held my hand the whole time and I just kept praising his choices and good attitude. I was all happy inside and felt the validation that I had done exactly what I needed too during the tantrum. And the biggest joy is that he learned, he understood and made his own adjustments. Score one for the Mom!!!! (and God too)

PS That is his goofy cheese face...makes us laugh everytime we see it!

God's "Good Morning" just for me

When I went to pick up Suzy and boys for the field trip today her roses were stunning and I had to whip the camera out to capture their beauty!

Museum Field Trip

Samantha and I went to the AZ Museum of Natural History today for her class field trip. They have been learning about dinosaurs and they have a fantastic exhibit. In addition to the dinosaurs they have a unique exhibit on animal poop, yup that's right...poop. While a little bit gross it was also very educational. They have an old city jail and a gold panning river. She sure is special and soaked up all the information. She loves to learn!

Trying to find gold...

Watching the King of the Dinosaurs....

Crazy Car Fun

I hope Jacob never gets too old for these race track toys. This is a Speed Racer track he got for his birthday and recently got it out of the closet again to play with it. What makes it more than fun you may be asking...oh well the fact that Shane has "Super Charged" it with an electronic power inverter of some kind which sends the car blazing through the track and crashing in a glorious final. Their laughter and expressions tell the whole story!

Check out the car in the air headed for destruction...matchbox style.

Feeling the love

Thank you all of you for your kind and encouraging words about our tantrum day. I am bubbling over with peace and love from so many friends and family. It does help knowing others have been on the same "ride" so to speak and have all come out on the otherside relatively normal...those that have not, you know who you are. hahahah! Anyway, thanks again and again!!!

Just to update...Nathan has had a couple other tantrums in the days to follow, nothing anywhere near the degree as Thurs. I am hoping that is because I am staying consistant or the issues have not been as big for him. He has however been a super sweet boy in the good times. He seems way more responsive to general correction and training as a whole and is learning that Mom and Dad mean business. I am sure in 6 months I will look back and say it was not so bad.

Hard Lesson in Perseverance

So I have had a hard day, one that I haven't had is a while, and I feel like I just went through a major roller coaster of emotions, in addition to the over load of adrenaline. The story below also has a pretty good ending which is why I am writing about it...need to "detox" what happened in addition to remembering it for the future, because after today I think there will be more of these days to come. (Disclaimer...I hope this is understandable, because I feel a bit all over the place with my thoughts.) Here it goes...

Nathan is two, this is not news, but recently he has begun to act text book "terrible twos". It is sometimes hard for others to understand because until today he has been perfectly content to behave badly at home. He is the most lovable, snuggable little boy I have ever had, and how could those beautiful, dark brown eyes be anything other than perfect. Well, there is also an incredible stubbornness and strong will behind those eyes. My friend Suzy and I went to Costco today and then decided to go to the mall to let the kids play in the play area and have lunch. Nathan started to fuss when we left Costco and I think it was because we didn't get pizza there. He seemed to get himself together on the drive from Costco to the mall. We started to walk into the mall, (Suzy drove so I did not have the stroller) and Nathan decided as we were walking into Macy's that he no longer wanted to walk or hold my hand. Just a bit of background, this is an ongoing training we are working on. He has been trying to learn that there is a time when he needs to hold a hand of Mom or Dad. As we walked through Macy's I was able to ignore the wailing, but as we entered the mall he began to drop his feet out from under him. One of the best pieces of advice my Mom has passed on is to not talk too much, so I was just simply picking him and saying a calm voice, "Walking feet please". Those of you that visit our mall regularly know that the play area is at the other end... not the best time to be screaming as loud as he could. We tried to walk on, knowing full well he wanted me to pick him up, and I was willing but not while he was defiantly kicking and screaming. Suzy was great and kept encouraging me by saying "don't give up, fight this battle, there is a bigger reward". I was blessed 100 times over that she was there with me. We continued to about half way, near the food court, when I began to feel myself getting angry. You know that feeling of "I am going to spank this kid!!". (I hate that feeling by the way) We stopped and I let him lay on the ground kicking and screaming for about 5 min., then picked him up and sternly told him this was enough and it need to stop. Um, ya right Mom! The stares and smiles from all the people passing us was beginning to take its toll and as we got closer to the play area the anger inside turned to tears and overwhelming helplessness. Suzy took the older kids into the play area and I found a couch away from them to sit with Nathan and "have it out!" An attachment therapist talked with me over the summer about holding a child tightly who is tantruming until they accept the love and calm down. We sat and we sat and we sat, he screamed and screamed then moved on to spitting and biting me. It was in the moment I began to cry, and cried out to the God, "HELP"!! After only about 2-3 min of praying he began to calm himself down with me shhhhhing him like he was a baby, calm and tenderly. Once he stopped completely I held him, hugged him and told him I loved him even though everything with in me was shaking and wanting to run away from him. We walked to where Suzy was and sat there while the big kids played. I cried some more and again God used Suzy to encourage me and just be there for me. He sat there for a while but never wanted to play. I asked Suzy how long it had been and she said 20 min or so...yikes that was a long time of stress and helplessness on my part, makes me teary even now. Now, for the reward... he learned that I love him enough to teach him to obey. He learned that I will not give up no matter how hard he pushes back. He held my hand the best he ever has when we went to eat lunch. He was calm and receptive to me and I praised his good choices. When it was time to go, he again held me hand without hesitation or fight all the way to the car. Suzy again praised me and my perseverance...thank you LORD for the support. I now know that there are going to be more of these battles with this child of God, but I will win the war so to speak...I will not relent in my determination to train him in the ways of the Lord, and that starts with learning to love, trust and obey his earthly parents. Now hopefully my headache will release its grip and I may be off for a pedicure this evening. To all my Mommy friends...keep up the hard work of parenting, there are rewards not always seen now but will pay off later...be encouraged, you are not alone!

First Samanthaism of 2009

Ok, so we decided she does not need to take a nap on the days she does not have school, but she still needs to have quiet play time for an hour so Mom can get a break! Well today I went to let her out and she was looking into her mirror smiling and said confidently...

"Helllllloooooo New York!!!"

I swear she sounded like she belonged on Sat. Night Live....hahahahahah! I suppose it is more funny if you actually heard her with the tone and inflection. So try to imagine her, then think of her saying it in her unique way. Heeeee heeeee, I think she may just be destined for stardom.

Recipe: Cheese Tortellini with a Creamy Pesto Sauce

I discovered a fabulous recipe last night and thought I would share...

1 lb frozen or fresh cheese tortellini (I used fresh, in the fridge section)
2 tablespoons butter
Hand full or more of mushrooms (Depending on your taste!)
1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup
1/4 cup milk
1 8oz package of cream cheese (I used reduced fat and tasted fine)
4 tablespoons pesto sauce (Found with the spaghetti sauces)
1 package of grape tomatoes
salt and pepper
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (I used a shredded four cheese blend)
splash of red wine, optional!!

Boil the tortellini until tender, approx 12-15 min.
In a large skillet, add butter and mushroom and saute
Add Cream of Mushroom soup and milk, mix well
Add cream cheese and stir until melted and creamy
Add Pesto sauce and salt and pepper (I didn't measure the pesto because I love it, so the more the merrier in my opinion)
Add tomatoes and Parmesan cheese
Add splash of red wine if desired
Drain tortellini, remove sauce from heat and pour into a large bowl if skillet is not large enough. Add tortellini to sauce and mix gently so the pasta does not break and done!

I served a Cesaer salad and garlic cheese bread with the pasta!! We all loved it here...and next time I make it I want to add grilled chicken at the very end. It is rich so a little bit goes a long way and there are leftovers. Enjoy!

Coming to an end

School starts again on Monday after the Christmas vacation and I am ready! We pretty much let Jacob do his favorite activity all break long, Xbox and his DS. Now, we did make him read quite a bit too. He loves to play with his Dad especially, and is better than him on some of the racing games. They enjoy this time together. Once we get back into "real life" his Xbox time gets pretty low, so he was happy to play a bunch! And just like as summer was ending I remember being more than ready to jump back into routine and a predicable schedule. This family functions so much better when we know what we are doing day after day. Having said that, we have been relaxed and chillin much of the past two weeks, and we all LOVED having Shane home for the while break. So, here's to getting back to normal and looking forward to things like bible study and Kids Rock starting in addition to all the regular things in a week.

Welcoming 2009 with a trip to the snow!

We made our annual cabin trip this week to play in the snow and let me just say there was a ton of snow. Those three storms last week dumped about 18 inches of snow at the cabin which made sledding an extreme sport! Jacob, our dare devil, had the most fun. He has been sledding since he was three and now at seven has mastered the art of going down the big hill alone. Scares his Mommy half to death sometimes but the joy on his face is a treasure. Samantha also had fun, however she is not as experience and head butted a tree on one time down the hill which made her a little more fearful the rest of the trip. She was a trooper and got back on the sled, but only with her Dad. Asjiah also enjoyed sledding, but I think eating the snow was the highlight for her. The other two, hmmmm, not so fun! Neither of them liked the cold, and in fact Nathan screamed the first day and we just let him stay on the porch after that....maybe next year! Anyway, it was a great way to ring in the new year and we hope to go up again before the snow melts for the season. Happy New Year!!

When it is 22 degrees outside, must find fun inside! What you cannot see is a matress on the floor and they all took turns diving into it. The one in the air started this game...shocker!

" Yum, just what I wanted to eat!" Seriously, she was always eating snow!

This is the only smile I got out of this child...too cold for her!

Snow Buddies!!!!

When sledding is done, warming up must begin. He spent a few minutes warming himself by the fire after playing in the snow.

Oh buddy, maybe next year!!!!

Our crazy boy...he was out of control in that sled! All boy if I do say so myself.